Oh dear, this took longer than 3 weeks for a measly 1.3k words. I'm so sorry... QQ

I really have no excuse other than laziness. I mean, yes I had a crap ton of calculus tests and IB bio tests to worry about (friggin' 3 day calc tests make me sad), but other than that, I was playing a bunch of video games the rest of the time. It's finally winter break, though, and I swear that if I don't get out at least 5k words in the next two weeks you can yell at me! I have all the time in the world now, haha.

Maybe I'll write a late Christmas chapter once I get a few more chapters in. I know for a fact I'll be doing a side fic with strain shenanigans and pranks, so if you have any silly things you'd like to see happen that are practically crack then tell me. 90% chance I'll write it since writing crack fics is fun.

Enjoy! R&R if you want, I love hearing people's ideas and I may implement some in this story if I like it enough or get writer's block.


"Please show me what's so special about you, and find me when the time comes that you've learned all there is to learn, Eve. I'll keep an eye out for you, I'm strong even if my powers are limited by the Gold King. Let's keep in touch, okay?"

And with that she disappeared, and I was left alone.

Her voice sounded throughout my mind.

We're best friends after all, right? We'll get through this together, no matter the hardships.


…What was I supposed to do now? She left me all alone in this place, no one can see me, and I have no clue how to speak Japanese or where I am in the city, or anything really. Where was I going to sleep? Food's not a problem, since I was invisible to everybody, but I'd like to start harnessing my powers so that I wasn't. I have no idea how to start that, though.

Sighing, I scratched my head, standing up from the bench and starting off in a random direction. Hopefully I'd figure out something to do in the next few hours with enough brainstorming.

As I glanced around, I saw that the blues had started dwindling, looking as if they were giving up and returning to their base. It was kind of odd to see them, with their uniforms standing out so much, but no one seemed to give them weird glances so I didn't think much on it. They all started heading one direction, and I debated on following them just to get a better idea of where things were, but ultimately decided not too in case my powers became a problem. I knew too little about how my power would react in different situations to risk going into Scepter 4, anyway.

With that I decided to start walking the opposite direction, mulling over everything I knew about this place and the people in it. Yes, the kings and their clans were incredibly important, but the first thing I needed to learn about was what year it was. Based off how Dresden said I would change the upcoming events with my knowledge, it was most definitely before the events of the anime, but just how long before?

I was thrown out of my thoughts by what felt like a shock running throughout my body. That spark made my eyes widen, and I felt this certain tugging feeling that caused me to abruptly change direction and start running. I couldn't really control myself as I started running through the alleyways, with what could only be described as sirens and alarms ringing throughout my mind like a big red flag screaming "DANGER!"

It felt like I ran for hours, trying to get to this unknown location, but my more sensible conscience attributed it to the panicked state I was in. Also, that sane part of me was wondering where this sudden increase in stamina had come from. I wasn't exactly in the best of shape, after all, shouldn't I be getting tired by now?

Then everything seemed to come abruptly to a stop as the feelings dispersed and I found myself in front of some blues cornering a girl. Blues… cornering someone…

Cornering a strain.

An overwhelming feeling to protect the girl being targeted filled me, and before I could even tell what I was doing, I'd launched forward and grabbed the strain's hand. My body didn't do anything else, though, and I soon figured out why.

The blues who'd been getting ready to attack were staring at us weirdly, before one of them shouted, "Where did it go?!"

"I-I don't know! It was there one second, and now it's gone…"

"Dammit, what are we supposed to do now? It has to be using its powers, should we call in Captain?"

"Probably. That strain's been causing problems in this area for a while, we really need to capture it. I'll contact him, go get the others and tell them the situation."

"Alright, I'll be back Akiyama," the man stated, rushing off to report to the rest of Scepter 4. Before the blue left behind, Akiyama, could call who I could only believe to be the Blue King, I grabbed his PDA with my unoccupied hand and dragged the strain behind me as I walked away. He looked utterly stunned at having it disappear, before realizing the severity of the situation and cursing before running off to find his comrades.

After he left, I stopped, looking over at the strain who I'd saved. I hadn't really gotten a good look before, but now that I had the chance to, I was amazed by what I saw. She wore a dress filled with patches, with a cloak over it, but what stood out to me was the stitched mouth she bore and the different colored eyes which were wide in amazement.

How… what could have happened to make her like this?

I was inexplicably relieved, however, when I found no severe injuries on her. "Are you alright?" I asked, still not letting go of her hand for whatever reason.

Somehow, she managed to respond without opening her mouth much and tearing the stitches. "Y-yes, I'm fine. Thank you… thank you so much for saving me," she responded, still trying to come to terms with what had just happened. Suddenly she frowned, "If I may ask, how did you do that? They acted like, like we had just disappeared or something."

"…I don't know either, but I'll think about that later," I said, "I've had a really weird, long day and I just want to get some sleep. You know anywhere I could stay? Wait a minute…" I suddenly realized something. "You can understand me?! Wait, I could understand them?! What the heck is going on?!" I exclaimed, realizing that suddenly, everyone seemed to be speaking perfect English.

The strain didn't seem too affected, however, and replied, "Ah… that's one of my abilities as a strain…"

This girl was suddenly one of the most important people in this universe.

That's why I led you to her, ne? Told you I could still help. She needed a friend anyway. Dresden's voice resounded throughout my mind.

"…Dresden?" I mumbled, wondering how I could have heard her before once again deciding not to question everything that was happening since it would be too much of a hassle to try and figure out.

Apparently the girl had heard me, however, and her own eyes widened once again. There was an awful lot of that happening today, I thought sarcastically, but my attention was brought to the strain once again as she excitedly asked, "You know Dresden? Are you a strain too?"

"Eh?" I questioned. "Ah, it's kind of complicated. I'm not a strain, though."

The poor strain looked confused by the reply, saying, "How do you know her, then? As far as I'm aware, only strains should know Dresden and refer to her as such. She's the one who creates us, after all, and all strains know about her since we meet her when we're given our powers, forcefully or at random."

Huh, that could be useful, I thought, pushing aside the uneasiness I felt when she winced while saying that they were forcefully given their powers. If they all know Dresden, then I could possibly use this to my advantage, especially if I plan on changing anything in the future. I'd need all the allies I could get, and if I could get strains as my allies that would be incredibly useful due to their wide versatility in powers.

Hey, it was early in the path of change, but there was no harm in starting so soon. It could only bring good, after all, to be well prepared for anything.

"How should I even start explaining this…"