Author's Mega-MUST READ note:
This fic is the complete version of a [Quest] setup on the website SpaceBattles, under the same name. It's updated mostly daily, which means I don't have time to re-check each submission for errors. Hopefully only minor ones go under the radar, but do expect them to happen. Once I've got enough material, I bundle it up and post a chapter here. Everything that's not shown in either the anime or the LN gets the AU treatment. Combat, attempts to persuade, and so forth are calculated by dice so I don't get biased. No plot armor for anyone; the universe punishes stupid decisions accordingly like it damn well should.
Like Grimgal, this story also starts slow and takes it's time. Interesting plot hooks start happening around chapter 3.
If you like worldbuilding and dialog heavy stories, you might like this one.
If you don't like original character's or self-insert characters (Which is the entire point of this fic) you'll want to skip out on this one.
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"Awaken"
Someone whispered in my ears. Or maybe my mind. Whatever it was, felt like the wrath of god had poured twelve buckets of ice water over the face. You know, that sudden wake up call - like noticing a massive spider crawling near your nose. With fangs and a bad attitude of course. That's me right there.
Well - Now wide awake and flooded with adrenaline, the second thing noticed was the glint of fire all around. Specifically candle lights. They dotted the walls of the corridor I happen to be loitering around. The rocks felt rough to the touch once examined in more detail, oddly enough. Expected them to be damp if we were in a cave. Wait. Who's we? There was some sort of low buzzing around, like muttering. It sounded like a muffled conversation even. Any attempts to focus on those sounds didn't get far. It was like holding smoke, utterly impossible. Most disturbing of all - almost sure that buzzing was in my head.
Thankfully those thoughts quickly left well enough alone because there were other voices – outside my head, thank you very much.
Someone on the side called out, "Is there someone else here?" And then all sorts of replies followed from left and right. "Yeah." A guy said. A woman's voice was next; "I'm here," We're one big happy family looks like, alone in the dark. Considering I'm the one hearing voices in my head and not just outside it, the spot in the tribe here might be the crazy conspiracy nutjob uncle. Every family worth it's salt had to have one at least.
"How many are here?" Someone else said, "Why don't you try counting?" A snarkier someone else replied. The voices around continued to chatter, but it was hard to put a face on any of these people. Candlelight is pretty shit. Where was this place anyhow? Why isn't there any good lighting in here?
Then it hit like the utterly sobering shock of opening an unexpectedly empty cookie jar – I have no fucking idea where I am. Or what exactly would be better lighting then candlelight. A bonfire? Torch? No no no no, there's something much better than that but what is it exactly? The word is sitting on the edge of my tongue, taunting like bacon during diet season. How did I get here anyhow? And what's a cookie?
"Can't just sit here forever," some guy in the background said clearly, then the rustle of the man standing up. Looks like it's time to stretch the legs a bit. When someone asked him where he was going, he replied "Going to try following the candles down this wall," And behind him a tiny fan club springs into being. Not that I can complain, because I'm definitely all over that. We're walking out of here all together. There could actually be spiders down here you know? (The ones with the fangs and shitty outlooks on life.)
In the candlelight, it's difficult to see people. They look more like shades. Details are colorblind and faces might as well be changing every single time the candle shadows shift a bit. That said, of the details picked up here's the list:
Everyone seemed pretty young.
I don't know any of these people. Actually, I don't know anyone period. No family, no friends, nothing. It's a big giant hole in the memory. The more thought about things unknown, the more a feeling I'll lose even more crept in. So did the smart thing and put thinking about it for later tonight.
Don't think anyone else hears voices. Except for the kid behind me, who's muttering to himself, "…. Better…. not think about it."
All that could be caught. Well, here's someone I wouldn't want to see anywhere near a knife.
Wasn't the only one who heard him either, a girl called him out on it but he deflects it sheepishly. "No, nothing. Nothing really. It's…" and then he shuts up. We walked for maybe 10 minutes more. It was a really long cave.
Of course all good things come to an end; we hit a gate. The party leader who'd set the pace of this mini-adventure walked over and announced he was going to open it. A yank and a creak later, he delivered. That led to a bit of idle chatter and murmurs, and onward our merry band went. Into stairs and into what looked like human made construction. At least we were sure there wouldn't be a dead end. Hopefully.
And then we ran into a dead end.
Second gate at the top of the stairs, this time the leader guy wasn't able to persuade it open. So he did what anyone would do next, complain angrily. "Anyone there? Open the gate!" We all joined in on the yelling. I like yelling. And like spoiled brats throwing a tantrum, the inevitable happened: We got what we wanted. The sweet sound of iron tumblers unlocking made me a bit sad because now I didn't have an excuse to yell anymore. Not.
"Get out," A voice behind the gate said. Unlike spoiled brats we did exactly as asked. Up the stairs some more and into an actual room. Pretty empty, no windows, and few lamps to keep people from stubbing their feet on something. The gatekeeper turned out to be a knight. As in, with armor and everything. Had a sword too. He scored pretty high on the do-not-fuck-with meter. The man flipped a switch on the walls and the walls moved to open a way out. Don't really think it could be described any better. It was ripped straight out of a tomb raider moment to be honest. And what's a tomb raider moment? I can't really understand why I even thought of that. How does a stone wall opening up match up with someone robbing tombs? The voices in the background buzzed again, but no understanding them like usual. No matter how hard I tried to eavesdrop. But the buzzing voices were not from the people around me, that was certain. It might be all in my head. No time to think about it though.
"Get out," Mr. Knight told us in a very friendly and completely encouraging manner. He likely cared more for the mildew on the walls then us. Our original leader that brought the group out of darkness went in first without a word. I actually got a good look at him this time. Silver hair and ripped. He looked like an Asian jock. What's Asian? And what's a jock? More missing memories. Following the silver-hair, our group actually went outside into fresh air. The sun was setting, or rising depending, and the sky was a very deep blue. Behind was a tower so assuming I've actually been underneath that tower this entire time.
And that's when I truly heard those voices. Or rather heard them more clearly this time. A loud one spoke in my head, "Socialize with the group. Get to know some of the people around you." Pretty stunned here. Was I seriously hearing voices in my head? And then more voices showed up. A bit of panic came over me. Voices. Goddamn voices. One of them whispered, "Talk to the knight." Two others berated that, "Relax," they said. And with that, I felt the panic go down with their order. "Go with the flow. Be a wallflower for now." Before I realized it, my feet are already walking me to that wall. There is a distinct lack of flowers on that smooth stone and I happen to have the fix for that.
Just as quick as they appeared, the voices returned to the unintelligible buzzing once their suggestion was followed. Ok. I'm a little on the insane side aren't I? I am literally hearing voices in my head, and what's worse: I'm doing what they're telling me to. What could possibly go wrong with that plan? But they told me to relax, so relax I did. The thought of voices in my head didn't really panic me anymore by now, it was kind of comforting in a way.
So. A wallflower I decided to be, and a damned good wallflower I was going to be. Watch me voices, I'll make you all proud. The headcount of people around came down to a whopping thirteen, yours truly included. Most of us were men, but there were four girls among us. Clothing wise, we all had clothing so pick your pick if that's a good thing or not. At least I had my favorite fuck-everything-I'm-staying-home sweatshirt. Perfect for cold days… and how do I know it's my favorite again? Can't remember. Having a favorite sweatshirt must mean I had other sweatshirts to compare too right?
"That looks like a city," someone around me said, waking me out of self-reflection mode. That man was pointing at some glint beyond the hill. Everyone turned their heads and yes, there looked to be civilization over yonder hill. Even had a stone wall circle lazily around it. "A castle," the kid next to me whispered. Turns out, I'm not the only wallflower on this wall, how he snuck up on my turf I'll never know. Clearly he must be skilled at sneaking around right? I can't possibly be that blind right?
"So… where is this?" a tiny girl besides him asked. A grand total of three wallflowers on my wall. Two of them illegal aliens, I should deport them. This was my turff goddammit. Made a promise to be the best wallflower after all; the less competition the better for me.
"No use asking me, dunno." The kid answered back. "Ah, sorry." She answered, "Does anyone know? Where are we?"
And now other people noticed the wallflower trio. Clearly I should have picked a better wall to sulk under. Voices, forgive me, I failed you. As for her question, everyone knew exactly diddly squat.
Quickly the group decided to ask the knight about it. Or rather, knights. The one in the room had followed us out, and a second one was waiting outside. Sneak skill must be maxed, no one noticed him at all. He looked utterly bored. As if watching a random group of complete strangers gawk at the outdoors was just another Tuesday for him.
"Hey man," a goofy guy with a tank top shirt had gone up to the guard. "Do you know where we are?" He looked beyond annoyed. "Grimgal. Head down the road and you'll reach the recruiting office. We'll escort you there." His teammate had walked up to him already, shouldering a clunky sack. "Don't wonder," The other added, "Monsters are difficult to manage even in daylight with equipment and training. At night, you lot won't stand a chance. Sun will be up soon, but it won't be out by the time we reach the office." With a grunt, he walked down the steps and away from our tower. The other knight followed wordlessly, the clanking armor making all the noise for him instead. The rest of our group slunk behind them without question.
Down the hill we went, following the road. Other than crickets, the only sound was the mass footsteps on dirt from our group. It was pretty noisy surprisingly. Then we entered a more somber part of the road. Around us were white rocks that dotted the hillside. At least a hundred, if not more. It looked like they were planted everywhere but there was a vague pattern once you glanced a bit more critically. On first thought: A graveyard. This had to be a graveyard. But who's?
Someone asked the knights, but they didn't care to answer. Rude. My fellow wallflower/ninja-kid ahead of me didn't seem to care, his eyes were glued skywards. Taking a glance upwards to see what had captivated him so. A blood red moon, crimson actually. Pretty, but there was an odd nagging thought in my mind: The moon wasn't supposed to be red. That's not a question either, I'm 200% sure the moon is not supposed to be red. But I can't for the life of me remember what color it was actually supposed to be. Red it was not. Blue maybe? No, that didn't feel right either. I wanted to ask others if they saw the same thing. I mean – I was mildly insane after all. I could just be seeing it. But then I remembered the voices. Go with the flow. Relax. Good point. What does it matter if the moon is blue or red? It's just a moon. And the graveyard around me? Not my problem, it's pretty scenic after all.
We reached the office after about twenty minutes of walking. The sun still hadn't gone up, but the sky was a lighter shade of blue by the time we reached there. It was a shabby little hut, a signpost next to it with some language I couldn't read, and the roofs look like they were patched up as they broke down. Inside, we ran into another odd sight.
"Welcome to Grimgar. This is the town of Ortana." He said, hunched over the counter with one hand holding his chin up. Red hair, lipstick, drag attire, and a look that said he wasn't a bottom. "I'd like to give you a warm welcome, my kittens." I broke out in goosebumps at that last one. Ensign, full power to wallflower engines, make it so not even the goddamn air knows we're here. "My name is Brittany. I'm chief and host of the Red Moon Office for the Volunteer Soldier's Squad of Ortana's Borderlands Brigade."
No one said shit. He was not phased by that either. "You can call me chief. Or Bri – but only if you say it affectionately." He says with a shit eating grin. I am now a monk of the wallflower god, my devotion unquestionable, my skin: The stone itself. No one can possibly see me. I am beyond this mortal world, enlightened.
Silver hair calls him out on it while I rapture my way out of everyone's attention.
"Give me answers." He says. "What the hell is the Volunteer Soldier's Squad? Why am I here?"
"Demanding aren't you? But, I don't mind one's like you." Shit eating grin has returned.
"It's Renji. And I don't like homo's like you." Silver hair says matter-of-fact. Not my problem, I'm relaxed and taking it easy. No one can see me anyhow. Which turned out good for me, as Brittney lunged out faster than I could blink and held a dagger to Renji's throat. Everyone gasped. Except for me. I am a mountain.
"Renji, let me give you some advice." He says, "No one has called me homo and lived long." His voice lifted slightly, "Wanna find out yourself?" Silver hair still doesn't back down, grabs the dagger on its bladed side and holds his ground. "Go ahead and try."
"In time." The drag queen answers. "And then, I'll get you good. You won't be able to forget me after that." He says, letting go of the dagger and licking his fingers. Then we get into the meat of the game. "10 silver." Brittney says. "Anyone who signs up for the volunteer soldier's squad gets 10 silver as recruitment fee. You should be able to live off it for the time being." He continued, taking out what looks like round dogtags. "For the moment, anyone who takes the 10 silver recruitment will only get a trainee's badge. See, this badge here is worth 20 silver. It marks a fully-fledged member. With 20 silver, you can buy your own, which comes with its own benefits."
"We have to buy them?" Someone with curly hair in the back said. He didn't seem happy with that.
"Doesn't matter to me." Brittney says, "Either way, if you're not strong enough, you'll die."
"And what, exactly, are we supposed to do?" Renji asks. Ever to the point that guy.
"My dear Renji, you disappoint me." Mr. Most-Certainly-Top answers, "You'll defeat enemies by gathering information with your own wits and determination." Fuck. That sounds like work. "That's the way of a volunteer soldier," he finishes.
Renji sums it up well, "So basically we need to find out things and figure out everything on our own." Brittney follows it up, "Exactly. I adore fast learners. After you defeat a monster, take all the spoils and sell them. These are the basics." And with almost an oversight, he mentions, "Don't think that there are other types of menial labor to do. It's a different story if you want to be my personal pet of mine of course, but you will not find any other work in this city."
So we're locked in to this? Is he telling the truth, or do people like us not get any choice but to fight monsters? Well, that's shit. The voices had other plans.
And they wanted me to be social and sneaky this time around. "Talk to others around you.", "Gather info," ,"TALK"
Fine. Ask me to be a wallflower one second, and a social butterfly the next. First one on my to-do list are my fellow wallflowers, the ninja-kid and his sidekick, Mrs. Shy. Come to think of it, I haven't said anything much over this last hour. Comes with the territory of being insane I suppose. Brittany was still 'talking' with Renji, the silver hair'd aggressive jock. Other people had began discussing among themselves about his offer. Seems it's my chance to get to know people.
"Hey you." I said, elbowing the ninja-kid. "What's your name?"
He looked confused for a moment, but quickly answered back. "It's umm, it's Haruhiro."
"Good, good. I'm …" Wait, who was I again? SB? Must have been some sort of initials for something. Wow that sounds lame. But I can't put my finger on what. "I'm SB. Don't ask why, I don't know either."
He nodded at that but our attention was picked up by the antics of the messy-hair brat in front of us. He seemed to be angry with Brittney. "What if we were to refuse your offer to join?" He asked with a pointed finger. Very dramatic. Brittney shrugged, "Nothing. I said it before, you all can choose. If you choose not to become a member of the reserve force, you can leave here now and never come back."
Messy hair didn't think a second, "In that case, I guess I'll pass, I still don't know exactly what's going on, but I'm a pacifist by nature."
Brittney didn't even nod. "I see. Bye then, take care."
That took the wind out of Messy hair, "That's it?!" He stopped on the way out and turned around, "You're as cold as Haruhiro! But hold on a sec, if I were to leave now, what should I do?"
"You know him?" I asked Haru. The lad had a guilty look on his face, "Not really… we just talked a bit on the way here. Only a little bit." Ahh. I see. I should have paid some more attention to the surroundings. Talking about that, one of the voices did say I should be doing that. Just a lot happening at the same time, can't keep track of Brittany and all of the muttering crowd at the same time. Talking about that, Brittney just laughed, I think I missed something he said so I focused on the followup, " … member of Crimson Moon, you're free to go. As I said, if you decide to enlist as a trainee you'll receive ten silvers from me. That's enough to live on for the time being, I think."
An older guy with silky hair to the side of us muttered, "Silvers… I forgot, money." He looked in his mid twenties, though I had a good first impression of him. Probably the serious type that reflects a lot on how to do things right.
Come to think of it, Brittney has been cudgeling us all on the head that we need that ten silver to survive for the moment. Checking my pockets I report being the proud owner of lint and crushed dreams. Seriously what was I expecting anyhow? I might as well be a murder hobo for hire at this point. Good thing they're hiring for that position. A glance around told me the same thought went through plenty of people's minds here. We're all broke and there's monsters outside. Camping doesn't seem like a fun time to me if I do the math. We need room and board and that usually costs money. Maybe not a lot of money come to think of it. The place looked low-budget, wooden floors and walls. Some sort of sleet metal on the roof to patch things up. A poster board on the side with paper adds here and there. Once more, filled with gibberish in that language I couldn't make heads or tails of. It's a wonder I can even talk with the locals around me come to think of it. If the town was the same, maybe room and board would be pretty cheap. I mean, there's nothing here that's not nailed down.
I forced back my attention to Brittney who had continued his conversation with Messy hair. "… available jobs are way more difficult than volunteer soldier. Even if someone were to hire you, your wages are so low you'll barely scratch out a living. You'll also start off as pretty much a slave-boy to your new master."
This sounds like a scam. I think we've been scammed. Voices, did we get scammed? Looks like other people in the room were getting antsy about this too. While they continued talking to Brittney I turned my attention on former ninja-kid, Haru. "Hey, who else did you get to know?" I asked. A glance around the crowd told me only little. The tallest guy was at least six feet four inches, maybe more. He was also slightly fat. Hensforth, I shall call him the Giant. The shortest person was one of the girls, though all of the girls were short come to think of it. In comparison I was slightly taller than average. Good. I like lording over people.
Haru sheepishly shrugged. "The messy hair there is Ranta. He's… Ranta, yes I suppose that's all I know about him. And the man there is Manato" He said pointing at the older man to our left.
Manato on his part seemed to pick up his name.
"Introducing me already?" He says with a slight grin. His hands reached out, and I instinctively shook it. Then we both stopped, realizing how strange a gesture that was. Shaking hands… something from our memories too? Maybe a custom? Manato recovered faster than I did with a genuine chuckle, "Anyhow, what's your name? You've got me at a disadvantage here,"
My answer was automatic. "It's SB. For the moment. I think it's my initials or something."
In the background I could hear Brittney addressing everyone. Manato and I turned our attention back, "… will all need to figure out what you'll do and where you'll go from here for yourselves, but it would be wise to make your first priority the purchase of your Crimson Moon contracts."
"Fine then," That Renji fellow said while picking up something from Brittney's side. "Reserve force trainee or whatever, I'll do it and go from there."
Manato shrugged to my side, "Looks like things are wrapping up here SB." He and a small crowd of others walked over to the table to grab their badges and silver. On the other hand, I noticed Haruhiro, Ranta, the Giant and three of the girls looked like they were still mulling over their options. I must have been standing close enough to this group because Brittney's eye turned our way and he addressed me, "And what about all of you?" Ranta muttered while darkly stalking over to Brittney's counter, "I get a nagging feeling I'm walking into some sort of trap." No shit. Didn't I say we were getting scammed here?
"Where there's a will-a-will, there's way-a-way and where there's no will-a-will there's no way-a-way…" One of the girls seemed to have made up her mind, and followed Ranta.
"That's not the saying," I say at the same time that Haru voices out, "Um, I don't think we say 'will-a-will or way-a-way…" We turned to each other. Great minds think alike?
"That so?" The girl answers. She's got a twin-braid going on, so from now on I shall call her twin-tail.
"That's the way Yume remembers it though."
Did she refer to herself in third person? She did, didn't she? That's weird... Is it?
"Isn't it, 'Where there's a will, there's a way' right?" I ask. Haru nods, "That's how I heard it."
She frowned at that. "Oh, I see. But isn't will-a-will and way-a-way so much cuter? Yume thinks cute is important too~yan."
Oh, now I see why she refered to herself in third person. Mystery solved. She's a ditz. Wait! She's not blond enough to be a ditz! Sacrilege! But for now, I'll call her Yume too. Twin-braid was a mouthful anyhow.
"…I guess that does raise your cuteness a few notches." Haru looks embarrassed at his answer while I seethe at things not being perfectly right. Wait - embarassed look? Shifty gaze? Haru, is that a romance subplot I smell? I grinned without meaning too.
"Yep!" Yume giggled with genuine happiness, oblivious to everything.
And now that I realize it, while we've been discussing everything it looks like everyone's already gone up to the counter and grabbed their badge and money. Even the giant had shyly past us on the way to the counter to grab his goodies. Or on closer look, a red leather pouch and badge. I assume the pouches hold the money. The counter is littered with them, Brittney probably didn't count to see how many our group brought with us. Haru also realized the same thing and seemed to make up his mind with his first step planted firmly in the direction of the counter. Guess that's that then.
A look back to the crowd and even Mrs. Shy had her hands on a pouch and badge. Come to think of it, I never got to talk to her yet either. Wasn't she the second person I was supposed to get to know?
How'd I get so sidetracked anyhow?