"It’s all fun and games until an eldritch avatar has a glow up."— LoCWhile Rose and Iris started to come to terms with their predicament, the innermost part of the seed had only just started to dissolve. Its primary effect had been triggered, and the two of them were subjected to its effects. They could feel themselves drifting off, de-tethering from their bodies. They bat their eyes, but before they could get them closed, their consciousness were flung into the far reaches of the omniverse, flying past worlds like a wayward comet. But they did not experience the wonders of interdimensional travel. It was over in an instant, and they had been separated from all of their memories.
They had effectively been reborn in another world.
But first, a detour.
…
…
…
Rose and Iris awoke. They did not know their names, nor that they were a single entity again. But that was of little concern with the world ending.
Fenrir had opened his mouth wide. his lower jaw cleaved a canyon through the earth. He smashed through mountains, drained oceans, and set the world alight with volcanic eruptions. The upper half of his jaw ripped through the clouds and ethereal blue sky, leaving a black tear in its wake. Black ooze seeped out of the wound and burned as it fell to earth as meteors. Hundreds of magical girls rushed to Odin’s defense, but it was in vain. This battle had been foretold, and Fenrir would not die before it ended humanity and took Odin’s life.
Ragnarok had begun.
There was nothing they could do. They, no,
she was naught but a lone girl in a torn dress, powerless to do more than observe the incoming apocalypse. She stood before the vast ocean, watching ants try to stop an impossibly large wolf. There was no safety here.
She ran for the hills. A wicker basket hung from her arm, with berries and vegetables threatening to leap out with every step. Perhaps it was futile to look for safety, but in her mind she could survive if she outlasted the fires. Maybe in the forest she could find a cave and just hide there while the world burned. She looked over her shoulder. The ocean was draining, and rising lava was starting to take the waters place. The view of the distant battle was obscured by all the boiling steam. Even the world devouring wolf was invisible behind so much smoke. The grass was drying out. By the time Raven got to the forest, it was catching fire.
The air in the forest was getting warmer, but gradually. The thick canopy would keep things cool until the sky bled burning rocks on her. Then the forest would turn into a bonfire. There had to be a cave system somewhere. Some place that ran deep into the earth where she could be safe. The world was ending, many of the people in the world were ending, but they could rebuild if enough of them survived survive. But the world would never be what it once was.
In her frantic run for safety, she spotted something in the corner of her eye. A flash of red. She turned around and saw a poppy, pulled out of the ground like a weed and snapped in half. She sank to her knees and examined the flower.
As little as she could remember, she understood this flower had been important to her. It was a gift she had received during a chance encounter, and planted it with the help of her mother and sister. She had tended to it for years, protecting it from pests and the elements. It always grew right here, and it never spread. Now it was snapped in half, never to be whole again.
She bit her lower lip. A sadness she didn’t understand overtook her. Maybe it was the approaching calamity, but her tears couldn’t be held back. She grieved for the flower, thinking herself stupid for being upset over a plant that would die anyway. This was life, and plants come and left the world just like people do. But this did not put her at rest. She was paralyzed, unable to move past her grief, unable to understand it. Even as the air continued to warm, and the canopy leaves browned and burned up, she remained in place.
A hand reached for her shoulder. She lifted her head and looked to the stranger. A
tall man with the face of a boy stood over her. His body flicked in and out of existence, like moving smoke or screen static. And when he spoke, it sounded like ten other voices were speaking with him.
"You’re not sad because the flower is dead. You’re sad because there’s nothing left but the memories."The detour was complete, and their minds moved again.
…
…
…
Pax Septimus, better known as the city of blood, had a lot of problems. That should have been evident to anyone who heard the city’s moniker, but the civilians were unaware of what was ruining their lives. Everything from the criminal underbelly to the most lucrative businesses and possibly the local government body were being controlled by monsters. Though the monster problem was somewhat nuanced. They were horrible, good for nothing crooks and murderers, but they were also planner entities that ate ambient mana. Human emotions release ambient mana into the atmosphere, and it never really went away. If monsters are allowed to eat the mana, then the level of ambient mana goes down. But if the monsters aren't allowed to feed, then that ensures stronger monsters show up for the growing feast, creating a vicious cycle. It wasn’t really a choice for
her though. If monsters were harming innocent people, she’d kill as many as she had to, even if her adversaries would get stronger over time. Anyone from G.E.M.I.N.I (Government Esper and Monster Intelligence and Neutralization Initiative) would agree with her.
She walked down a long, metallic corridor. While most humans tended to rationalize away the supernatural, there was still a need to operate out of sight. The monsters would love nothing more than to strike while they were weak. G.E.M.I.N.I. HQ was hidden under a police station, which limited the number of people who had access to it. Give the right passphrase to the right clerk and you’re given free entry. After walking past a pair of double doors, she was greeted by an
adorkable young woman who was just standing there with her arms crossed.
”You must be the new girl! I’m sorry but I don’t think anyone told me your name. It wouldn’t happen to be Hildie by any chance would it? You kind of look like a Hildie.”That was, somehow, correct.
"Uh, everyone calls me Raven." Hilde didn’t feel like sharing her name with this strange woman just yet, especially since she already knew it.
"Is everyone on a first name basis around here?" ”Yup!You can call me Faith!” She extended her hand.
”We’re entrusting our lives to each other, so it makes sense to be as familiar as we can with our peers. You wouldn’t happen to be into anime, would you? Because if you ever watched One Piece, Luffy says 'nakama' a lot, which has a very special meaning to him. It’s usually used to title a friend or peer, but to him it goes beyond normal friendship. It’s like a true comrade who you can trust your back to no matter what! And I think all of us being on a first name basis creates a similar level of trust for each other, you know?”"...Right." She shook Faith’s hand.
"Is Fritzi or Ashley around?"”Fritzi is around, but she told me that it would be a moment before she could see you. Very important business. Ashley was suppose to greet you but um, you’re here really early!” Hildie snorted.
"I’m just supposed to wait here then?"”Not at all!” Faith chirped.
”She instructed me to take you to the training room so that we can evaluate your performance! It’s something Fritzi does for all, erm, most of the new hires. It’s like in One Punch man where all the heroes need to go through a test to get ranked so that-” With a snap, a swirl of feathers blew around Raven’s body. Her outfit changed, as did her hair and stature. She was in her esper form now. Her look could best be described as a
japanese school girl posing as a secret agent. Though her outfit was all black, save for her stockings and some of the effects she wore.
"I’m ready."Faith looked over the esper.
”Oh wow! You look really stylish! Ashley also has a colored visor like that when she transforms. If there were a bunch of you then maybe you could be like power rangers!”Hildie maintained her composure, but she did enjoy the complement, and that Faith didn’t feel the need to explain what the power rangers-
”Like they’re this group of people with different colored outfits, so you have a red ranger, a blue ranger, a black ranger, and a yellow and pink ranger. But then there’s also an extra ranger sometimes, like the green ranger, or the silver ranger. They do lots of martial arts and have these big machines that combined to form a-”…
…
…
”...But even if we can’t get a squad like that, I think it’s nice that everyone is different anyway. It lets everyone be their own unique selves.”"...Agreed."”Your outfit says ‘paradise’ on it in several spots, what’s that about?”Maybe Hilde was starting to open up to Faith, maybe she felt like talking after listening so much, but she took the opportunity to elaborate on her outfit.
"Well, my name is Raven, but my cal-sign is ‘Bird of Paradise’. It often gets shortened to Paradise."”That’s such a pretty name!”"Thank you, b-but I’d really like to prove my worth in the doctor’s trial."”It’s still being set up. That said, I’m sure you’ll do fine.”"I have no doubt."During their exchange,
Mika walked up to them and waited for a break in their conversation.
"Bird of Paradise? Like the Greater loppery-nah from the Superb Bird of Paradise family?"Hilde was a little surprised that a teenage girl recognized such an obscure animal reference.
"Why, yes, you are correct about that. The ones that do the silly dance?""Yes, the silly dance…" Something that Hilde found off putting about Mika was how dower she seemed. She felt like she was being looked down on like an insect, and that only intensified after she confirmed Mika’s suspicion.
"They do the silly dance when they want to mate. It’s hard to do because there are a lot more guys than girls. They need to work extra hard to win the girl’s heart." She pointed at Hilde’s outfit.
"Those colors? That’s what the guys wear." "Oh, well, you know, is that a problem? Because us espers don’t really-" But Mika was already walking away before Hilde could get another word in.
"...get to choose how we look." ”But they are rumored to represent our ideal self and innermost desires!” Faith added, like it was the most helpful thing anyone could have said.
"How about, you just show me the training room? I think it would be better if I waited there." …
…
…
And then, Raven was pulled out of that foreign yet familiar mind. Her soul screamed as it was split into Rose and Iris once again, and they found themselves in the unfamiliar bodies they had recently inherited.
