บท 226: Chapter 216
A silence fell across the room as I finished my story.
Yasaka was the newest one here in knowing what I got up to – crossing World-Lines and all that. I think she was also the most surprised or horrified at what happened.
To her, Susanoo was a nearly untouchable existence, and even one she peripherally worshipped, what with being a Miko for Amaterasu.
"…Please don't kill the Susanoo here." My fluffy fox finally spoke up.
"I don't have plans to." I reassured her.
"Good." She nodded, still with a blank face. "And you can have fun explaining everything to Izanami."
"…..yeah." I sighed.
"Accept the consequences to your actions." Artoria said evenly. "I will not get upset with you for doing such things. But I will not allow you to skirt your responsibilities. As Meridia stated, your existence changed, and it will be difficult to hide that from her, so you best prepare appropriately."
"I had no plans to. I was actually going to fully talk to her about everything." I stated.
"I am pleased." Artoria smiled. "It's difficult to find time between my responsibilities to go and see her again. I would not mind her coming here when she desired as well."
"You're acquainted with her as well?" Raikou asked.
"Indeed. Our first meeting was…..not quite ideal. But I would call her a friend at this point." Artoria explained. "I can understand your skepticism, but I support Yasaka and Will's opinions in this matter. It would not be fair to judge her based on our home world's depictions."
"I understand. I suppose I do have some bias." Raikou acknowledged her own sentiments.
"I am upset that you took the risk." Meridia still looked annoyed with me. "But I am also happy that you can further protect yourself." She crossed her arms with a little glare. "I am conflicted. I wish you would first consult with me – us on such things beforehand. But I can also understand that it was not possible to do so in your situation."
Scáthach seemed to keep quiet, allowing the others to express their thoughts on the matter.
"I don't want to see you get hurt." Jinn said quietly. "It doesn't sound like he was as strong as the Gods I'm familiar with, but please be careful."
"Are your Gods strong, lass?" Scáthach perked up with a bit of interest. It was funny that Jinn still sort of accepted the role of the 'younger' one even when she was probably the second oldest here.
"Mmm." Jinn nodded. "Using the terms of this world – I think you could say they would be in the top 10? Though that's just my speculations, I couldn't even really gauge their 'strength'. They were my creators and I didn't even harbor any kind of motivations like that back then. But I do recall the scene of the God of Darkness sundering the Moon on a whim."
Yeah, that's something to think about. Though, the Moon on Remnant looked a tad smaller than what I was used to.
"Impressive." Scáthach acknowledged.
"I do not understand these kinds of rankings. How are they even measured?" Meridia scoffed at the notion.
"Not everyone can smack stars out of the sky when they're at their best." I pointed out. "So it's easier to look at certain beings and gauge their power."
Well, the corners of her lips curled up at my offhanded compliment. She seemed happy that I wasn't putting her in the same category as these Gods.
Kind of amusing that she's so much stronger than them, yet at the same time, so much more restricted. This 'her' that was here right now, it probably wouldn't be able to fight any of the 'top 10' strongest in this world without being dispersed. But this was just a small part of her, so it wasn't a fair assessment to make.
The real 'her' would slap around the 'top 10' without any real issue.
The pride of the strong I suppose.
"That's both a scary and comforting thought." Yasaka said dryly. "Knowing that she's so strong."
"Yup, and she's my woman." I said with clear pride.
Meridia let out a huff. "You have no shame." She pursed her lips, trying to hide that little flush that seemed to always creep up.
Teasing her is always fun.
"You should solve any issues with Izanami soon." Yasaka spoke up again. "If nothing else, it would be wise to have her on your side in the event that one of the other Shinto Gods discovers your existence. I don't wish to see the consequences if Lady Amaterasu sees you walking around."
"Would she be able to deduce anything about him?" Artoria tilted her head with the question.
"Most likely." Scáthach spoke up. "Divinity is something that is rather unique to 'feel'. It's difficult for those who have not encountered it before to sense, but once you get accustomed to it, it becomes rather noticeable to your senses."
"It's as she says." Raikou also added. "I was born with my Divinity, and I could tell those at a glance who also possessed a certain amount of it. It's possible to hide such things, but if the one looking is a God, it's unlikely for Divinity to remain hidden if they truly wish to inspect you."
"I'm still getting a hang of mine." I scratched my head. "It's a different 'power' than I'm used to. The best I can do at the moment is suppress it so it's not broadcasting everything for the world to see. If a God glanced at me, I don't think they'd immediately notice, but if they stopped for a second look it would be easily given away." A passing glance may not raise any suspicious, someone actually 'looking' at me intently, yeah, I don't think I could hide it.
"My Patron would be sensitive to your...origin." Yasaka bit her lip.
"I could leave if it's inconvenient for you. I don't want to – "
"Absolutely not." Yasaka cut me off. "I refuse your suggestion. You are someone important to me and I won't allow some self-imposed exile for something that may not even occur." Almost to accentuate her point, her tail found itself wrapped around me once more. "Don't take my concerns to heart. I'm stressing over the worst case scenario and I don't believe anything would truly happen. I haven't even spoken to Lady Amaterasu in years so we need not worry."
Her tone didn't really leave any room for argument. I put my arms up in surrender. "Alright, I won't bring it up again."
"It's good that you understand." She nodded happily. "Regardless, you should speak with Izanami as I have said."
"I will, don't worry. Even without this whole….mess. I wanted to catch up, she's someone I care about too. I actually have several friends I wanted to visit since I wasn't working on anything in particular for the foreseeable future. But I digress, is there anything you need immediately done to alleviate some pressure?"
I should pop over to Remnant soon, see if some of the heat had died down. I'd admit to wanting to see Salem again, but I also wanted to see Miltia and Pyrrha as well among a few others I had a good impression of.
Maybe Jinn would like to visit her home as well? Though it may be something of a sore spot for her, so I shouldn't just assume.
"I trust you to handle everything well." Yasaka smiled. "As for things I need done as soon as possible….I do have a few things."
***
Spending time with everyone had been nice. I don't know how hard it would be to get all my girls together at once in the future would be, so I had taken the opportunity to enjoy it while it lasted.
It was great that everyone seemed to get along. While I didn't expect everyone to become best friends, my hope is that there wasn't any unnecessary drama between them. But they're all grown women, I don't think they would start anything petty and or let any kind of negativity simmer.
Kind of funny to think how I'm the youngest one out of all of them…
Yasaka was elated at the offers of help. And I felt like absolute crap at not realizing earlier how many problems she was dealing with, everyone sort of went about their own business and separated.
Scáthach had dragged off Raikou to go have a chat with a Mountain God that was causing issues around a few important mines. According to Yasaka, it was kicking up a huge fuss and even causing the Mundane people to start asking questions.
Something that could cause disturbances and possibly reveal things the greater Supernatural World didn't want revealed? That took a very high priority as many other factions would get upset if they had to step in to conceal things on a large scale.
Meridia of course went back to her world. Though she was apparently muttering about gathering some supplies and having it delivered. I knew she couldn't stay long, so I was happy for any time she took to come and spend with us.
Raw resources were probably at a premium for the Youkai at the moment. Even just mundane stuff to start rebuilding all their damaged city.
It would take a couple days to truly know what was needed as Yasaka gathered everything together. She had only been working within the idea that she had to try and gather what she could while not bankrupting the faction. Knowing she could acquire things from different sources and such, it would take a little time to redo her plans.
I couldn't even begin to describe how complicated the process of running a Faction this large was. Hell, I thought lending a hand to the Yggdmillennia faction was going to be a pain in the ass in the long run. But she was keeping together this many forces under her heel and making sure it didn't implode on itself while sustaining everything.
Jinn went back to Skyrim to do something or other. She was a bit vague on the details and I didn't want to pry as I thought she was doing something in secret to show me. Artoria of course accompanied her as she felt it her duty to. Skyrim was a bit dangerous right now, and I guess I'm not the only one to worry.
And just like that, I'm all alone again.
But I at least had something to do.
Walking through the streets of Kyoto was peaceful. Even though it was early in the morning still, people were up and about. Now that I think about it, I guess many Youkai would be nocturnal? An interesting thought that I wanted to ask Yasaka about in the future.
It didn't take long for me to come up on my desired destination.
Walking up to the door, I knocked on it.
I heard stomping, and some mild shouting as a familiar blonde opened up to greet me. "Oh, it's you. Whad'ya what?"
"Hey there Mo-chan!" I greeted.
"…."
She slammed the door in my face.
I knocked again.
She opened with a scowl.
"Hey there Mo-Mo."
"I will cut you." She threatened.
"Moedred."
"Death it is." She summoned her sword.
"Oh stop being so melodramatic." I rolled my eyes with a grin. "How have you been, my dear son?"
She let out a long sigh, dismissing her sword. "I learned with the flowery bastard not to react. He wanted a reaction, the best thing to do is to ignore it."
"Something wrong?" I asked. "You seem to be in bad mood." I enjoy teasing Mordred, but not when she's actually feeling like shit.
"It's nothin." She snorted. "What do you want?"
"Just wanted to check up on you. If you're not willing, I'll get out of your hair." I didn't want to talk about the heavy stuffy if she was upset about anything.
"….I didn't say you weren't welcomed." She huffed.
I couldn't help but smile. "Your Master around?"
"He's sleeping off a hangover, we went drinking last night." She stated. "They got surprisingly good booze here, but the old Necromancer's a light weight." She flashed a grin.
Well, you are a Servant. I'm mostly guessing you just drank him under the table.
"Wanna get breakfast then?"
She perked up immediately, almost the same exact reaction that Artoria had. "Shit, if you're paying."
"Of course." I nodded.
"Fuck yes." She did a little fist pump. "The Food in this place is great."
I think she meant this Era opposed to specifically 'here'.
There was something pleasant about the genuineness behind everything Mordred did or said. Granted, she tried to hide her actual feelings sometimes, but if she's pissed off, she lets you know. If she's excited about something, it's plainly obvious.
"Wanted to talk to you about some things too." I stated.
"Yeah, what?" She slipped on that red jacket I saw her wearing previously before closing the door behind her and walking down the street with me. "I aint causeing any issues."
"No, it's nothing like that." I waived off her concerns. "I Just got back from seeing Artoria."
There was a strange look that flashed across her face before she settled down. "How's Father?"
"Artoria's doing well. She just met Scáthach and Raikou for the first time, and it looks like they're getting along."
Mordred let out a snort. "Surprised the Cow didn't do anything."
"Her Mad Enhancement is gone, so it shouldn't be an issue anything." I chose to ignore what she called Raikou. Honestly, it didn't really feel as 'insulting' as it seemed on the surface. "But I digress. Artoria is around now, back from the world she was in and is taking a little break. I spoke to her about you and she's on board for meeting up when it's convenient."
"Really? Father wants to see me?" She asked quietly.
Ah, she was still having doubts.
"Yup." I nodded. "There still some stuff going on, but I guess you can expect to hear from her sometime soonish." While I wouldn't get 'in between' them while they try to settled the issues they had, I felt like it was okay for me to do this much. I always worried about overstepping certain boundaries, but I was just making sure Mordred was kept abreast of the situation.
"Thanks…." She mumbled. "For everything...letting me come here and helping with Father."
"It's entirely likely that Artoria and I will take the next step in our relationship at some point down the road." I glanced at her. "So to say you're family, it wouldn't be wrong. I do want to get along with you, Mordred. And I want to make sure you're happy just as Artoria is."
Well, I don't think she knew how to react to what I just said. She looked surprised and unsure of herself, which was a little amusing to see.
"...thanks." She managed to whisper before ducking her head.
The rest of the walk was in pleasant silence.
***
Been dealing with some personal stuff all day, so chapter was delayed. Entirely possible this extends into tomorrow and I won't get the chance to write anything.
Anyways, if you want to read 7 chapters ahead or support me, visit my pat.reon.com/astoryforone
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