Summary: Kagome had an encounter with the Bone Eater's Well much earlier than her fifteenth birthday. Only outside interference caused her to land somewhere other than Feudal Japan. Instead she was pulled to the past of a different world, only to be returned to her old home as if she'd barely been gone. Some time later, after her adventures were over she thinks she's seen the last of both adventurous parts of her life. She's proven wrong when the very force that returned her to Earth manages to get her into the only situation that can return her to the life she missed and provide closure… All thanks to something that most of humanity had thought was nothing but a game. Together with her new friends and some ghosts who are akin to a blast from the past can the path to a decent future be paved?
Disclaimer: If you recognize it from outside of my fanfiction I don't own it.
A Discordant Beginning
Aside from some grass a shade of green with far more blue than any grass found on Earth and the occasional tree or bush which would be considered even more remarkable than the grass's color on Earth the scenery was mostly a vast expanse of gray. Some of it was dead grass, but most of it was dirt or rock. The most remarkable sight was the sky. There were two moons- one green and one pink with a tiny pink moon orbiting it. And contrary to sunset and twilight on Earth, the evening sky was tinged with a couple different shades of purple and the clouds were red. This wasn't Earth or anywhere near it, but rather a planet called Alternia. In some places the night sky could almost resemble the one seen from Earth. At the seaside the gray encroached even more than this landscape for land, sea, and sky alike appeared as nearly endless expanses of gray.
But you didn't know about the sky, the beach, or even where you were yet. All you knew was that you were lost, you saw someone get killed, and your foot hurt. There were four people with gray skin and candy corn horns- similar to the people you saw kill someone- not far from you. Only there wasn't a speck of blue on their clothes or in their eyes like those people had had, and for some reason you weren't scared at all of these people. You watched them entranced. They were some of the prettiest people you'd ever seen. But when you scrambled to your feet the pain in the foot that was missing a shoe got worse the moment you put weight on it. You whimpered in pain and a member of the group dressed in black and green with horns that resemble cat ears said something, seeming to have heard it.
The one in the cloak immediately spotted you and he took a step forward. He called to you in what you thought might be English or something that's at least similar. His voice was kind and soothing, and you tried to take a step forward. But you stumbled due to how badly your foot hurt. Before you could land on your face, light that flashed between red and blue so quickly it glowed purple surrounded you and carried you into the arms of a man with four horns instead of the usual two. You were so amazed by what just happened and how he had one completely red eye and one completely blue eye you barely noticed when the most elegant woman you've ever seen started to fuss over you and tend to your injured foot.
"What's wrong, little kitten? Haven't mew seen a troll befur?" the younger woman teased.
You blushed in embarrassment. "I'm sorry for staring! The light was just so pretty! I've never seen such cool eyes or anyone with gray skin or horns before! What are you guys? Are you guys mutated humans or aliens? Where am I? Do you know how I got here? Do you know a way to get back to Earth?"
As she blinked in astonishment and struggled to understand you the man in the cloak chuckled. "Well well, we have a lost alien child on our hands! And here I thought you were some kind of hornless troll. Can you please tell me your name?"
You smiled, this man was nice and you loved his voice, best of all he spoke a weird version of Japanese! "My name is Kagome Higurashi. Can you thank these two for helping me please? And Did you mean that you guys are aliens called trolls? Can you please tell me about trolls and where I am?"
He grinned. "You're a curious one, aren't you? Kagome, this is sure to be the start of a wonderful friendship."
You woke up with a start. You rolled over and blinked so you could make out what your alarm clock read. It turned out to almost be midnight, but you knew that it would take far too long to fall back asleep for staying in bed to do anything but make you antsy. You sat up and brushed your hair out of your face. Noticing an inconsistency in your body temperature you looked down. Your left foot was sticking out again. The scarred foot had been getting warm more easily than the other ever since that day. You always wondered whether it was like an injured or arthritic limb being useful as an indicator of rain or if the nerves are damaged.
You snorted as you swung your legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Even after over eight years the memories were as fresh as they had been when you had just been returned to Earth. You got dressed on auto pilot, lost in memories and contemplation. You were gone for a whole sweep in Alternian time, which was slightly over two years. But when you got back only two weeks had passed on Earth. You didn't figure out until you started your quest in Feudal Japan that time travel shenanigans were involved so the first couple years consisted of a tough adjustment period. Your scar on your foot and increased height were written off as a birth mark and a huge growth spurt in a short amount of time. So you had to say you were fifteen when really you were seventeen.
Most of the time you would've been able to at least fall asleep again, but when you remember Alternia- remember your troll family and the friends you had made- even medicine couldn't help you get more rest. Making sure to keep silent you got dressed the rest of the way and slip out of the house. It was too late to go on a walk but you could at least wander the shrine grounds. Maybe you could even explore the remnants of the forest that had been here five hundred years ago.
Only a couple of yards away from the house you suddenly ran across a white dog. With a green flash you were standing in a house you'd never seen before. Before you could attempt to figure out where you were you heard your Pesterchum notification. Bringing out your phone you almost thought it was a glitch until you noticed someone was using white text.
[ ] began pestering electricSunset [ES]
I see it has begun.
ES: What has? Who are you
I know nine years is quite a long time, especially for one so young, but I didn't think you could forget the gentleman who helped you get home. Even if I'm not exactly a man.
ES: The living cue ball right? With a green suit and a tendency for kidnapping little girls, has a thing for acting the part of a gracious host and pseudo gentleman
ES: You realize that if we meet again I'm going to deck you so fucking hard your orb head will probably crack enough to hint at whether you might be hiding a proper head and face
Now, now. Besides the fact that that won't happen your rage is better directed elsewhere. Such as at my employer or the empress perhaps?
ES: Is this dog a friend of yours? Because I won't be a pawn in an evil scheme. You don't fool me you know, you never taught Handmaid to watch what she says around kids
Not at all but this was always part of what is meant to pass. If my employer had had his way or known about you you would've been left to your fate as a supposed mutant like a certain cloaked individual you knew.
ES: …! *sighs* I already had enough to worry about without adding badly timed grief. I AM in a probable stranger's house. Is it a coincidence that the green flash was the same shade of green as your shirt and house and whatever you did to get me back to Earth
I applaud your powers of observation. It is indeed no coincidence, however those abilities have nothing to do with my employer.
ES: Are we done here or was there a purpose outside of causing me emotional distress
Of course. I just wanted to inform you that this is your second chance. You'll want to find your way into the dream bubbles or the moon of Derse, however. Farewell Miss Higurashi.
has ceased pestering electricSunset
You sighed and rubbed your forehead. Looking around you noticed a fireplace in a room decorated by what seemed to be a bunch of life sized dolls and the stuffed corpse of an old man. A glowing symbol was floating in the air. An object like a house-shaped computer cursor picked up one of the dolls. But suddenly the doll fell. With another green flash the dog, the dolls, and some other things were gone. Then there was a flash of a different sort and you felt a shifting sensation. When the world- or perhaps just the house- settled down, the room felt slightly less warm and you knew the house had been transported to somewhere cold.
'Thank god I'm wearing my jeans.' You thought as you rubbed your arms.
You investigated the house hoping to find a coat or whoever lived here. Eventually after pulling a giant stuffed creature of indeterminate species you found what could only be a transportalyzer. After deciding to wait to investigate it you climbed the stairs. The attic at the very top turned out to be a mix between a lab and some sort of security room. Suddenly you hear a booming sound that could've only been an explosion or something huge falling. Spotting another transportalyzer you stepped on it and went back to the only other destination you knew- the floor you had started out on. You then heard a new commotion and made your way outside. You blinked as the sight that greeted you made your mind flash to a figure in a cloak losing control of his frustration with a woman with a big tangled mess of curly hair. Her body language had screamed of temptation to abscond while her facial expression was aggressive and fierce as she defended her view. She had always reminded you of a hissing cat when upset or faced with large bodies of water. Whereas when he let a hint of his anger slip, the reminder that he was a fallible mortal never failed to shock onlookers that weren't you, a graceful yet fierce woman in a black and green dress, or a snarky man dressed in yellow and black.
Blinking away the beginnings of a trip down memory lane you return to watching a thirteen year old human girl yell at and slap a hysterical green version of herself that seemed to have been fused with a dog… possibly the very one that seemed to have brought you here. You approached them to intervene and try to comfort the green girl. But there was a green flash, and the green dog girl was gone.
"Oooh! I can't believe I could ever been so frustrating or refuse to help like that!" she fumed.
Mentally thanking any deity that might be listening that she spoke English instead of something you didn't know at all you gave her a reply she didn't expect to come. "Well I don't know what's going on or where we are… but she seemed awfully upset. I doubt she was able to be rational or properly hear you out."
She startled. "Who are you?!"
You smiled bashfully. "I'm Kagome Higurashi. I, uh, was brought to your home… by what was probably your dog? Or maybe by your look alike?"
She facepalmed. "My name is Jade. And that was probably my dog, Beck… my look alike was just the stuffed corpse of my dream self until a few moments ago…"
You blinked. "Dream… self?"
"It's an aspect of this game." Jade explained.
"… Wait, game? Are we trapped in a game like Jumanji?" you asked.
Jade giggled. "No, nothing like that. Come on, let's get inside. It's cold and it's a bit of a long story."
With that as she explained about Sburb the two of you went back inside to warm up and find a way to stay warm if you did have to go outside. She then proceeded to take things out of her sylladex and started combining items and clothing in various different combinations. You started at the reminder. You'd been using backpacks and purses instead of your sylladex for years. You couldn't bear to risk losing any of the things you'd collected on Alternia so you still had all of the possessions you had accumulated there. Quickly bringing up your own sylladex and finding the right card you retrieved the perfect item to deal with the temperature- a gray cloak sewn with red thread instead of an unnoticeable color. It had belonged to him and looked exactly like the one he had been known for except for one difference: a broken infinity symbol was sewn onto the inside pocket in black. He hadn't had an actual sign but he'd used it as a signature. You grinned in pleasure at how it almost actually fit you properly now.
"That's a really nice cloak, do you know what it's made of?" Jade commented, "It looks comfy."
"I really don't. I haven't seen anything that seemed to be the exact same material on Earth and I'll probably never have a chance to ask the woman who made it." you explained.
"What do you mean? Are you saying it's alien or synthetic or something?" Jade asked.
Your smile dimmed. "Yeah, and Alternia was… let's just say that even if it would've been possibly she was probably killed… Especially considering…"
"What?" Jade urged, concerned at your turn in mood.
You shook your head to clear your mind. It was a bit of a long story, and you didn't know whether there was a time limit. Besides, it was kind of cliché to spill such a huge part of your life story suddenly to someone you didn't even know just because of a strange situation.
"Let's get you on task." you said, changing the subject.
Jade looked at you in concern. "Okay Kagome."
With that taken care of the two of you checked your strife decks. Luckily for you your strife deck was equally untouched so you weren't stuck hoping Jade had archery equipment. You retrieved the scythe you had been learning to use on Alternia. You supposed it was lucky that they couldn't find a child sized one after all. After all this time it was finally the perfect size for you, and would likely continue to be since there wasn't much if any chance of you getting taller or shrinking too much for it to be comfortable to use.
Before the two of you could get to work on figuring out Jade's quest you were attacked by an imp. Every time a bullet from her rifle should've hit it the imp went intangible to avoid getting hit and you were all transported. This happened a few times until you got tired of the seemingly unending cycle and just cut off its head while it was distracted. Then Jade got a pester from another player named Dave, the blonde boy you saw in the place with a lava ocean the imp transported you to. Their friend John who had gotten her home into the Medium lost his laptop so Dave offered to serve as a replacement server player. Though him and being trolled by one or two people who were from another session Jade learned her job as the 'Witch of Space' or more generally this session's space player was to combine ectobiology with time paradoxes to breed frogs and more specifically create the mutant frog who would become a new universe. You and Jade alternated who stayed with the ectobiology equipment and who hunted frogs for a while. This actually wound up serving a purpose besides convenience, because you both gathered information from the consorts, their towns, and various caves and ruins relevant to the various important aspects of Sburb.
Eventually Dave came to help. This freed up more time, and Jade went to see her Denizen.
"So." Dave started when you two were out of earshot from Jade, "What's the deal? I'm pretty sure no other humans should be here. Not that this isn't cool if you're trustworthy but it's weird and no offense to Jade but she can be a little naïve and with Rose fucking up her planet it's up to me to keep and eye on Jade and Jon you know? … Shit this is lame of me…"
Dave trailed off, embarrassed that he'd rambled. You giggled a little. He clearly was disappointed in his 'inability to stay cool' but you just saw a boy who wanted to protect the people he cared about.
"It's okay. You bunch aren't the only ones who wanted to find yourselves in a situation most would write off as impossible." you reassured.
There is a pause- you suspected that Dave was blinking in surprise- then he raised an eyebrow. "Any chance you'll share that story?"
"When there's time I'll even tell you both of them." you concede, hinting at the level of craziness you were accustomed to.
He puts a hand on his chin and studies you appraisingly. "Okay, I guess you pass."
You grin. "So glad you approve. I don't suppose you know a way to Derse's moon? Right when I landed in Jade's house a pester from one of the reasons I'm not in danger of death by meteor saying that getting there is essential to getting closure in regards to one of those stories I owe you."
"Lucky for you we're right by the alchemizer." Dave says, then after a brief pester chat another Dave brings you a jet pack.
You whistle. "Wow. The perks to this crazy game are really great. So where is Derse?"
It's the pink planet orbiting Skaia, its moon is chained to it." he explains as he helps you into it, the other Dave already gone.
"Thanks." You say as Jade finally returns.
"Kagome? Are you going somewhere?" Jade asks.
"I'll se you again at some point Jade." you promise, "But I have it on good authority from an unscrupulous figure who never outright states lies that if I'm on Derse I'll find the key to getting a second chance in regards to some unfinished business I don't think I'll ever be able to wrap up because of him."
"Can't it wait?" Jade asks.
"I really wish I could say it could." you apologize, "But I've dreamed about any form of chance for eight years. I'll never stop regretting it if I procrastinate so much I lose my literal sole opportunity."
Jade seems to understand and you now see a bit of sympathy in her eyes. "Alright. But you'd better be able to make sure to keep your promise!"
You grin and hug her. "Of course! We're friends aren't we?"
After double checking that you had the young teens' chum handles and them yours you were off. Flying via jetpack took longer than you would like, but you weren't sure if any of the portals above Jade's home even led to Skaia anyway and if you were wrong it was too late anyway. You were okay with the mistake and barely embarrassed, though. You needed to center yourself, to think… After all you'd refrained from taking a break from the objectives when not with Jade or Dave for a reason.
Everyone you knew either was dead and had been for some time- the trolls who'd had just as much a part in raising you as your parents, your father, everyone or nearly everyone you'd befriended during your time in Feudal Japan- or would very shortly either die because of the meteors or be placed in dire circumstances that were liable to be a short prelude to their death. And even though you'd never thought you'd see the trolls you'd come to love as family again as a child all the more you learned about science and technological advancements the longer a faint glimmer of hope sparked and persevered. On top of all of that, everything happened so fast you'd never had a chance to process if or how the white and green menace's news effected said sliver of hope.
Now as good a time as any, you supposed. What exactly happened to Kankri, Mituna, Meulin and Porrim? By the time you'd been separated from them the lessons in Kankri's sermon-like speeches had spread like wildfire. A result you were reasonably sure they tried to keep low-key and less noticeable around you was the uprising his words of equality had seemed to be sparking. How did it turn out? Probably badly, judging by the menace's words.
What about the scary and feral-seeming Kurloz? He'd seemed to mean well if nothing else, and either not known better or been misled in regards to most of what made him bad or seem bad. Did he ever change for the better or at least become happy? Did he ever have a chance for things like that between his religion, everything Kanrki'd wanted to change for the better, and how the Condesce made an already tainted society so much worse? You were more pessimistic there than regarding your troll family's fate; the things he'd told you and alluded to around you gave the impression of a religion that was brainwashing or fooling innocent trolls who truly believed in it. And his role in society outside of his religion had been too important to compromise for the sake of his well hidden conscience and morals.
In one town you'd stayed in briefly near Kurloz' home you'd befriended a troll a couple sweeps older named Latula who'd had a passion for justice and seemed to be inspired by Kanrki's words. You wondered if she managed to do as much good as her words made the child you were convinced she would. Hell, speaking of justice you wondered if the pirate you'd heard of… Mindfang, you think or maybe something that started with an A- had ever gotten what was coming to her or changed her ways. She'd sounded scary and fierce but you doubted she was beyond everyone who would ever go after you. You knew rumor had it that an orphaner who you'd heard your troll family whisper about being trouble if he ever ran into the five of you had a pretty volatile relationship. Was it enemies like you thought, or kissmesitude? You'd never known.
Speaking of quadrants you wondered about them a lot. Like was your impression accurate enough for you to be justified in thinking they explained and would have straightened out some of the drama that you put up with in Feudal Japan? Did Meulin ever feel the same as Kankri or was it just really deep flushed feelings on her part? Did Mituna ever figure out where his red feelings for Kankri lay and confess? Did Porrim ever find anyone? Then there was your little secret even the menace and his unwilling ward didn't know… or thought they hadn't. What exactly was coming that you were supposed to be able to get a second chance or at least closure?
By the time you'd mostly gone through all of your musings you were finally there. You were jolted into awareness of this fact by how bright Prospit, Derse and Skaia were. Derse and its moon were entirely shades of… some type of purple. The brighter shades were the color Yuka used to mistake for pink. When you finally landed on the ground you noticed that there wasn't much of any color besides purple here. After some aimless wandering you finally came across a girl with white blonde hair in pajamas just as purple as everything else on this moon, Derse itself, and the chain connecting them. You noted that she looked a little like Dave.
After a moment you remembered what they'd mentioned about their other friends and it came to you. "You must be Rose."
Rose gave an enigmatic smile as if she'd either expected your arrival or known that it was a distinct possibility. "Indeed. And I believe you are the unexpected cohort in this adventure I've heard about."
You blinked in surprise, it was strange seeing a smile like that on a thirteen year old but it suited her. "Yeah, the Name's Kagome. You are pretty… what's the word… eloquent… for your age."
Rose smirked. "Why thank you. What pray tell brings you to this corner of the session? And this corner of Paradox Space in general, if it's not too far a stretch."
"Well to be honest all I know is a fucking menace who may or may not be connected to the 'how did I end up in the realm of this pseudo game' question seems to be behind things or else is the only one with the answers." you admitted, "Let's see, how to explain it…"
"I find the beginning is often best when telling a narrative." Rose advised, amusement clear in her expression and tone.
"Well the actual 'how' is Jade's dog, best I can tell it transported me to her house as she was doing whatever it takes to get here." you explained, "The menace messaged me on Pesterchum before I could not more than that I was in a strange house to explain couple of things to me, the more relevant of which being that I would gain closure over something it'd take quite a while to explain if I found my way to either Derse's moon or the dream bubbles… whatever dream bubbles are."
"Dream bubbles are a recent development. Derse and Prospit are the locations of dream selves which serve as second life." Rose said, "If your dream self gets used up or killed before your normal body when you dream instead of waking up in your dream self's body you have the possibility of experiencing a phenomena known as dream bubbles where ghosts of dream selves and ghosts from alternate timelines dwell, and the bubbles also house memories. What did you mean by second chance?"
"That story I alluded to? The menace had me torn away from it pretty abruptly… I didn't get closure or even to say good bye." you elaborated, "His messages made it sound like I really won't ever see them again he claimed that I'm being provided with a second chance."
"May I have this story?" Rose asked.
You sigh. "It's… kind of a long story to retell it more than I have to so if you don't mind it should probably wait."
"Not at all." Rose assured you, "… if it's not out of place with my being younger, may I suggest you take a nap before figuring things out further? You seem exhausted."
You smile tiredly. "In more than one way, all things considered… You're right. I won't make any progress if I'm too tired to think straight."
End of Chapter