章 88: Strange Bedfellows
Steve and company pushed open the door to their home as they walked into their Manor at the setting of the sun. There they were greeted by the sight of a blonde little Renard dressed in a maid outfit with a frilly maid cap on her head waiting to greet them as she bowed low.
"Welcome back home." Haruhime said quietly, not quite used to her new family as of yet, but nevertheless eager to pull some weight around. Hence her current get-up.
"Haruhime?" Steve raised a brow as he looked her up and down. "What are you doing?"
"I can't exactly help you on your runs in the Dungeon Master Stephen." The Renard looked up at him. "So I thought that maybe I could help with the house-work instead. It is a very big place after all and the upkeep will be hefty. We should minimise it as much as possible."
"...Fair enough." Steve shrugged as his teammates walked past him into the Manor and began heading off in separate directions, most likely to their rooms.
He wasn't going to tell her not to work, and if she wanted to put herself to use, why deny her? This was supposed to be a Familia of hard workers after all.
Haruhime began sweeping the dust off the floor that they brought in with their feet from the outside and observed as her superiors passed by her. Her expression became one of questioning as she noted that someone was missing.
"Master Stephen." She said. "Where is Master Zuri?"
"You don't have to be saying Master every time you refer to us you know." Steve deadpanned. "As for your question, I have assigned him some work which takes him places outside of the city. Think of it as recruitment endeavours." He smiled and reached out a hand to stroke her head between her ears as her face became a bright red and she looked down to her feet in embarrassment. "When he comes back, you should also have some new helpers with this new house-keeping job you've taken on for yourself."
"I-I'm okay on my own." She stuttered as she tried to hide her enjoyment of the sensation of his fingers stroking the bases of her ears. "You don't need to waste valuable adventurer material just because I'm not coping properly on my own."
"You're going to be an adventurer too." He said as he removed his hand. "Perhaps most likely as support but regardless you will be fighting...just not for some time. I don't want you to be wearing that maid outfit all the time either." He raised his brow. "Where did you even get it by the way?"
"I had Miss Efe make it for me with her loom." The Renard answered. "She actually suggested this for me."
"Did she now?" He asked rhetorically as he cast his eyes in the direction of his youngest sister's room. He rolled his eyes. "Anyway, how've you been feeling? You ready to move into a proper room yet or...?"
"N-no. I...still need a bit more time." Haruhime said as she began sweeping again to distract herself a bit from the topic. "This place is still rather big. Even Lady Ishtar's tower was not this large..."
"Bet she's swallowed plenty of larger ones too." He muttered.
"What?" Haruhime cocked her head, though the ruffling of her ears let him know she heard him perfectly.
"Nothing." He said before placing a hand on her shoulders. "You don't need to be saying 'Lady' before that woman's name alright. It doesn't do to add honorifics like that before the name of one of our subordinates."
"But-but...she's a-"
"I don't care what she is." Steve said. "This is the reality of things. We practically own them Haruhime, and they are not going to respect us if we are going to be giving them the kind of respect you only give to superiors or betters. You don't belong to them anymore Haruhime. Nor us for that matter." Steve removed his hand from her as he he tried his best to appear as comforting a possible. "I of course expect that you will obey orders Haruhime, but we will not subject you the kind of treatment you faced back there. I can't promise we'll be the loving and warm family you might want, but we will do right by you and we will protect you...even from yourself."
"Myself?" She asked confusedly.
"I am Captain." Steve said as he put his hands on his hips and turned away from her a little. "Before, that seemed like a fancy title with great power and responsibility in a Familia. But I've come to realise lately exactly what it means and a whole bunch of other things as well. I am responsible for all of you even if you can take care of yourselves. What you do will also reflect on me and I will be called to account. If it just so happens you're straying from the safe path and endangering yourself and I'm not setting you straight, I will have a lot of fingers pointing at me."
"Even if someone else is doing something bad?" Haruhime asked. "But you're not the one doing it! Why should you be responsible if it's not your fault?"
"First rule of leadership." Steve held up a finger. "EVERYTHING is your fault."
"...That's a bit harsh." Her ears drooped.
"It's a harsh reality. It's much easier to yell at one person for collective fault than it is to yell at multiple people with individual faults." Steve folded his arms and shook his head while chuckling. "Of course, I don't believe many will be approaching us antagonistically after the past few days for some time. But regardless Haruhime, coming back to the original topic, you're not going to be alone in your work. I am going to enlist help for you, and I am going to take care of you. Just as I promised."
"Y-yes." The Renard shuffled her feet a little as she finally looked back up at him. "You know, I never did thank you for helping me and Aisha out of there...for saving us...for saving me. I guess that's really bad isn't it?"
"Don't think me as some kind of grand hero or anything." Steve said. "Part of me protecting you from yourself is to not allow you to delude yourself about me. I saved you because of what you had to offer, same as one from the other two. For both you and her, I brought in your best friends too as thoughtful consideration. I want you to be putting into the pot as much as you'll be taking out as well. I didn't do it because I want to be a knight in shining armour." He gave her a very serious stare. "In fact, if it wasn't for your abilities Haruhime, I may not have helped you at all."
"...What?" The Renard asked feeling very disheartened all of a sudden.
"I may have given you full access to the library...but you have to wake up a little more Haruhime. This is the real world. Heroes like those in your books don't exist anymore. And get this..." Steve pointed a finger at her. "...just because I am going to take care of you, it by no means obligates me to like you."
"Huh?" Her eyes became wide, and he could see some childish part of her mindset still left behind after all her trauma still being kicked out. "B-but why?"
"I'm not saying I don't." He said. "But just because I take care of you and every other person in this Familia, I ain't got to like any of you. I do what I do because it is my duty, my responsibility to do so. But at the same time, I am also allowed to expect something in return. I chose to have our Familia assimilate you Haruhime because of that special power of yours. I intend to use it to take our Familia to greater heights. As familial as many would want Familia to be, it is all transactional at the end of the day. A deity accepts a child because they hope that the child will grow and give something back to the Familia. Such is the case with all Familia, with you, and even with me." Steve stared her down as he sensed her beginning to feel awkward. "Consider this a life-lesson. Escaping Ishtar comes at a price, and that price is that you grow up and you earn your bread Haruhime. Because with her, you would never have gotten a chance to prove to the world how strong you really are."
"Strong?" She said with a high-pitch of surprise. "Me?"
"We are all strong in some way. Some of us make it more apparent while others are more subtle." Steve turned his back to her. "Right now, amongst friend and foe alike, you're not seen as strong at all. Just weak, timid and fragile. Remember Haruhime, you are living the life of an adventurer and such a life is all about proving your strength to the world, by proving everyone else and their preconceptions about you wrong...and it is best to start doing that with your friends and allies before you prove it to your enemies." He looked back at her one last time. "Consider this your first objective as a new member of the Ptah Familia. Prove me wrong...Sanjouno Haruhime."
"...Yes Captain." The Renard bowed her head, not wanting to make eye-contact with him. "I understand."
"Good." Steve said before he became a lot more cheerful all of a sudden. "Do take care to change out of those clothes when dinner comes around. I'm looking forward to what Makena is cooking up tonight...but then again, I was looking to perhaps eat out today."
"That reminds me." Haruhime said, still not looking up. "Lady Tiona came by and went to your chambers. She said she was waiting for you."
"Really." Steve smirked salaciously. "I guess I'll be eating in my room then."
"I'll pass the message along to Miss Makena." Haruhime said.
"No, that's not..." Steve dragged his fingers down his face as he sighed, realizing he didn't want to explain anything to the Renard on this particular occasion. "Never mind. Later Haruhime."
"Goodbye Master Stephen." Haruhime said as she watched him walk up the stairs.
Her brain hummed with tumultuous thoughts...for her 'saviour' had given her much to ponder on.
---
The moonlight pierced the large windows of the uppermost floor of Memphis Manor, and rested upon the sleeping forms of Steve and Tiona, their faces upon a single pillow mere inches away from each other as they embraced, while snores escaped them. It was quite a comical sight for anyone who would happen to look upon this scene.
Steve was so much larger than the Amazon that when he wrapped his arms around her like he did, she completely disappeared into his body with only her head showing that there was another person sleeping beside him. But nonetheless, each had clasped the others hand unconsciously as husband and wife savoured the intimacy of their bed, their hands perfectly settled in like they were made for each other,
On this peaceful night where the two should have rested in the privacy of their shared bed, the door opened and in walked a light pair of feet, making barely any noise as the individual moved across to the bed. The person's profile in the shadows gradually came closer and closer until they stepped into the moonlight, revealing a bald head with a single braid and smudged kohl.
Ptah stood over the two lovers, observing them as they slept and smiled. Not for any perverse reason though, as he was genuinely happy for their union. His friend Hestia was the deity more aligned with family and strong bonds, but he too could appreciate tender moments like this. He did not fear Steve wakening either as he had used his own power to cancel out Steve's instincts, the same senses that would have alerted and awoken the Minecrafter the moment the Primordial entered the room.
It would have been much harder to do this and to accomplish what Ptah had come to do if Steve had been awake, but he still would have been able to evade Steve. Just as his Firstborn chose to hide many things from him, there was still a lot Ptah had hidden and could hide from Steve. Ptah looked over to see Tiona and with a gesture of his hand, shifted the blankets over onto her in order to cover her modesty from him, while at the same time reveal Steve's broad back and give him access to the Falna.
Ptah then pricked his finger with a prepared needle as he smeared a drop of blood onto the boy's back, and the soft glow of the Falna appeared as a bunch of symbols and figures appeared to him. Ptah observed the readings as he saw that not much had really changed with Steve's status. In fact nothing had changed at all, simply because there had been nothing to stimulate the boy enough that he would get more status points.
But that was not what he'd come looking for.
Ptah lifted a hand and stuck it into the Falna as he began tweaking around, looking for a certain something he knew was there. He also reached out with his mind as after all, the Falna was powered by his Arcanum. It was essentially his own domain within the boy's body and only Ptah had the mindset and experience, not to mention the guts to do what he was currently doing.
To summarise, he was rummaging around in the boy's soul with both his hand and his mind.
Much of what Steve had said that day had been replaying in the Primordial's mind, not that there wasn't a lot to digest anyway as even he'd been introduced first time to what the rest of the League had seen. But a specific tidbit of information Steve had revealed to them had been glanced over by everyone in that room in Babel except him. Ptah had lived a long life, one full of plenty of regrets, mostly because of his own cowardice. But when the time called for it, he had the ability to step up and fight his corner when it was required of him. Now was such a time. But he needed a lead. And there was none better than the boy in question.
For the most part, Ptah ignored the influx of information that was Stephen Hewer. If he wanted to right now, he could have gone through everything that Steve had kept hidden and unspoken and truly uncover Steve's character. But Ptah was not that kind of person. He quite like Steve's unpredictability despite the trouble and migraines he caused for Ptah. Reading Steve like that would be nothing but a spoiler and Ptah wanted the fun times to continue.
Not to mention it would be a complete betrayal of Steve's trust in him.
That and...well, Steve's foremost thoughts before he went to sleep was about Tiona and what they did before sleeping. As of right now, those thoughts were still rattling around in the boy's head and certain things about Tiona that should be kept between the two of them would be what would greet Ptah first the moment he decided to explore that part of Steve. And Ptah didn't want that.
No, Ptah looked past all that, deeper and deeper into the boy's soul as he looked around in the ocean of information for something out of the ordinary or something that stood out. And it wasn't long before he found it. With his mental grip and his physical hand, he reached out to the aberration and squeezed.
...
The Falna was promptly shut down as Steve rolled over onto his back involuntarily. Ptah stood back for a second as he observed this, waiting to release his Arcanum should anything go wrong in the next encounter he was suspecting.
And sure enough, a second later, Steve's eyes flew open. But instead of being met with white sclera and blue irises, Ptah saw nothing but glowing, purple pits. Because Steve was still asleep...and something else had taken his place.
"I thought as much." Ptah pressed his lips together tightly as he watched the eyes turn to him. "You've been watching through him the whole time."
...
"Not necessarily." A strange voice came out of his child's lips. It both sounded like Steve, and at the same time, sounded like an amalgamation of many others'. There was an ominous echo and undertone to it, plus the quality of it sounding like it was being projected from Steve's voicebox, whilst also sounding like it was coming out from all around Ptah. A voice that came from everywhere and yet nowhere at the same time. "But I might have guessed you would be the one to find out, Primordial."
"I've come across a lot in my life. I know where the line is....and how to break the rules a little myself." Ptah replied as he walked back a little, watching as the entity inside Steve used the boy's body and stepped out of the bed, regardless of the boy's current state. But Ptah paid no mind to this at he kept his gaze fixed firmly on the eyes of the being that had for the moment possessed Steve.
'Steve' stood up tall and straight for a moment, stretching his body to the fullest as muscles creaked under tightened skin and pulled back on his hair, slicking it backwards and out of his face. He momentarily looked behind him at the fast asleep Tiona who had suddenly taken to open-mouthed snoring a little loudly, a mischievous grin on her face indicative of what she was dreaming about.
'Steve' chuckled to himself as he lifted a finger to his chin.
"Well isn't this a wonderfully familiar sight?" He admired the girl a little more before looking down at Ptah a little imperiously. He tilted his head to the side and smiled, something that unnerved Ptah a little. "To break the rules, you first have to know them...and currently you're not following the most important one amongst them. You hold your head too high."
Ptah became very self-aware at this moment, and without hesitation dropped down to his hands and knees as he all but grovelled in front of the stranger.
"Forgive me." Ptah said. "Long lived as I am, this is the first time I've actually met the likes of you. I'm not quite used to conversing with beings of your calibre."
"Hm." The stranger hummed in satisfaction. "This is why I like you Ptah. No matter the timeline, no matter which parallel of you exists, though you're always a maverick, you've known your place. I will grant you but three minutes of my time for whatever question you have of me."
"Just this." Ptah looked up. "I know beyond a doubt what Steve's intentions are. But I have many a reason to be cautious of what it is you want. I've been lenient so far with Steve, not just because of my general nonchalance but because I did not want to act against him until I'd known what your wishes were. Callous as I am, this reality is still my home. And I want to know what you want with it...my lord."
"You delude yourself if you think your world has any meaning to me." The stranger. "What I gave to this boy, I did merely on a whim. The only thing I truly care about are my reincarnators, and even when it comes to them, the one I have sent down upon you is at near the bottom of my priority list."
"You gave a childish boy reality altering powers and the ability to connect entire worlds together regardless of how chaotic that might be...just on a whim?" Ptah raised a brow. "I know I am fickle, and perhaps bold now...but do you give no consideration to what he might have done if he had decided to use his powers for bad?"
"That's why you're there aren't you?" The entity grinned. "To keep him on a leash. He bears your blessing after all. And besides, even if he had done so, I wouldn't have particularly cared. I barely give even mild interest to his situation compared to...others."
"Forgive me...but considering the extent of the favours you've given him, I wouldn't say you're not heavily invested in his activities." Ptah quirked a brow. "Who could it be that you would give your real consideration to if you're willing to give this kind of power to someone you barely bother about?"
"Someone special. Someone far better for his titles and worthier of his powers than the manchild I gave to you." The stranger replied as he flicked his fingers. "Someone whose future gleams the brightest of all those that I have given second chances to. And someone whose glory will surely ring out across all realities. But that matters nothing to you. I have answered your curiosities. Do as you see fit Lord Ptah...I should hope that large cueball of yours houses an equally commendable mind and not just empty space, if you would go through risk as you have just done now."
"I'm willing to take plenty of risks." Ptah half smiled as only one side of his mouth stretched out. "And besides...I didn't believe you'd so carelessly possess and damage him...not after what you've given him. Now I have only one thing left to say to you."
"Oh?" The stranger raised his brow.
"The next time you decide to answer me and he's like this, stay in the bed please. I'm going to be spending days wondering how he's even walking around now, let alone having to wash my eyes out." Ptah cringed as he became hyperaware now of his child's state, now that his curiosity was sated.
"I fail to see the part where that's my problem." The stranger said. "And for a moment there, I thought you were going make a challenge or a demand of me."
"I like my life." Ptah snorted. "Now please, relinquish my child. If you do not care for him that much, then I can safely say I care more for him. I only hope you have not laid out any nasty surprises for us all throughout all of this."
"This boy's time is coming. I make sure arrogance amongst my reincarnators gets a few cold reality checks now and then. This one included." The entity sat Steve's body back down on the bed. "His time is coming Primordial...just you wait and see."
With those last words, the eyelids closed and Steve's body flopped back with his head connecting with Tiona's stomach, whereby he began using her as a pillow as the boy regained his body, going right back to sleeping with no collection of what had just transpired. Ptah shivered as he could no longer stand the sight in front of him and left the room to go and clean his eyes.
Perhaps he should have done this on a night where Tiona had not been here.
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