Just powers don't make someone not human.
Next morning, somewhere in Gensoukyou.
"[English]Huh, what's Sexta doing there? " said Áviya flying above a forest clearing. She descended.
Sexta was curling into a ball under an assault of large blue butterflies. However strange that was, she was covered in bleeding wounds.
"[Castillian]Hey, Sexta! Do you need help fighting butterflies?! It looks like Ceres is powerless against them! " Áviya laughed. "[English]Let's see how they'll react to my power! " She took a bottle of water from her backpack and poured a large amount of white powder into it. It dissolve significantly faster then it was supposed to, turning water into viscous fluid. "[English]What do you think about this, butterflies?! " she said shaking the bottle.
Butterflies abandoned Sexta and flocked above the bottle. Áviya dropped a drop of the fluid on her palm and when a butterfly landed on it, she crashed her. "[English]This is my power and you are nothing against it! "
One butterfly was floating separately from others. Seeing Áviya's actions he turned into a tall man, then he grabbed the bottle and shoved Áviya on the ground. Then he drank the whole bottle in a few gulps and tossed it aside. Ragna appeared out of nowhere and slashed the empty space above the butterfly the man turned back into. Faster than eye can see she caught the butterfly and tore off his wings.
"[Swedish]What are waiting for?! Kill him! " said Áviya.
"[Swedish]Usual arrogant Áviya," said Ragna. "[Swedish]You think you can give orders to me? You're just a commoner. Besides, I want his blood."
"[Swedish]Haven't you learned your lesson about drinking insects' haemolymph? "
"[Swedish]Vampires adapt fast. After that one mistake, I can easily suppress my strange attraction to insects. I'll just wait until he'll turn back and drain his blood," said Ragna without taking her eyes off the butterfly.
Suddenly, Áviya found herself wrapped in the coils of a giant snake. Unusually for a member of that suborder she had upper torso and head of young woman instead of a giant reptilian head.
"[Swedish]Aren't you adorable," she said looking at Áviya with loving eyes and wrapped her arms around her as well.
"[Swedish]You're pretty fast for such a large organism. You have a body of a titanoboa, if I'm not mistaken," said Áviya. "[Swedish]Also, what the hell are you doing?! "
"[Swedish]It's a love at first sight," said the snake. "[Swedish]By the way, I'm Karin. I am a druid. What's your name? "
"[Swedish]I am Áviya, the Sorceress of Pestilence. Also, do you know how many diseases can be transmitted through skin contact? " said Áviya.
"[Swedish]It's such a beautiful name," said Karin, leaned closer, closed her eyes and rounded her lips.
"[Swedish]Hey! What are you... ?! " Áviya started to say but was interrupted when Karin's lips touched hers. The kiss continued for a few seconds. Then Karin let out a cry and fell coughing while about four different kinds of rashes starting to appear on her skin. Her convulsions threw Áviya away. Áviya floated for a moment and landed on her feet.
"[Swedish]Kissing a septic tank might have been a better idea! I am the personification of the Pestilence itself! " she shouted. Almost immediately someone heavy knocked her off her feet. She found herself under the left front paw of a hippo.
The butterfly, who was in the human form again, was standing to the left of the hippo. "[Swedish]You see, little girl," he said, "[Swedish]I think you are aware how much a hippo weighs. Björn is going to hold you until you reverse whatever you've done to Karin. If you try the same trick on him you'll be crushed under his weight."
"[Swedish]I thought Ragna wasn't going to release you," said Áviya.
"[Swedish]The princess ran away as soon as I tore off her cloak," said a woman in a bathrobe approaching from the opposite direction. "[Swedish] Håkan, you all have forgotten your bathrobes again. Do you want problems with police? " She took good look at Áviya and gasped. "[Swedish]Håkan, do you recognise her?! "
"[Swedish]There isn't going to be any problems," said Håkan. "[Swedish]And, yes, I know who she is. But it doesn't matter. Roll that useless undivided here, Emma."
"[Swedish]Yes, myriadi," said Emma and headed to the still form of Karin.
"[Swedish]How about this, 'myriadi? ' " said Áviya. "[Swedish]I'll give your cholera and tuberculosis if the hippo doesn't release me."
"[Swedish]Björn won't release you unless all of us are feeling well," said Håkan. The hippo nodded
Emma dragged Karin closer to Áviya. "[Swedish]Now work your magic, criminal," she said.
"[Swedish]Only humans could be criminals," said Áviya. "[Swedish]Alright." Her left hand glowed with purple and green light. " [English]Lay on hands! " she shouted as she put the hand on Karin's forehead. "[Swedish]Rise from your grave! "
Karin sneezed and rose, her skin returning to normal color.
"[Swedish]Forgive me, myriadi! I was distracted by her beauty! " she cried.
"[Swedish]I expected something like this from you," said Håkan.
"[Swedish]Are you feeling all right, Karin? " said Emma.
"[Swedish]My tongue hurts." said Karin.
"[Swedish]What did you expect putting it between my teeth? " said Áviya.
"[Swedish]What are going to do with her now? " said Emma. "[Swedish]You're not thinking about about letting her go, right, Håkan? "
"[Swedish]She is not needed now. It's better to eliminate her," said Håkan.
"[Swedish]But I love her! " cried Karin.
"[Swedish]This is really strong argument in my defence. A feeling caused by reproductive organs of some stupid human," said Áviya. "[Swedish] You have a much more serious problem. If you kill me, you will die from diseases caused by released bacteria."
"[Swedish]This is irrelevant. I am a myriadi and everyone else can be sacrificed. Crush her, Björn."
Björn shifted his weight and ... Utsuho crashed into him, knocking the druids away with her wings. She landed and stood with her cape flapping in the wind.
"[English]She is really beautiful... ," whispered Áviya. She jumped in the air and flew closer to Utsuho. "Allow me to introduce you." she said.
"Um... , okay." said Utsuho.
"[Swedish]Humans! This is Reiuji Utsuho, a hell raven with the power to control the most powerful fundamental interaction! Bow before the Subterranean Sun! " said Áviya.
"[Swedish]Just another enemy," said Håkan. "[Swedish]Björn, restrain her."
"[Swedish]Who?" rumbled Björn who had already changed into a form of a giant human.
"[Swedish]The idiot with the wings."
"[Swedish]She is not an idiot! " growled Áviya. Her hands glowed.
A large fireball grew between the druids and Áviya.
"Stop! " said Utsuho. "I am confused. You are Áviya, right? "
"How do you know my name? " said Áviya.
"Orin described you, but ... . Never mind," Utsuho shook her head. "Who are those people? "
"They are just humans who can change into forms of other animals."
"So, they are were-youkai? "
"They are not youkai, they're just humans with powers. By the way, why are here?"
"I was looking for Sexta. Satori-sama thought that she got in troubles again."
"She is lying in grass over there. I'm getting sick of all those humans around. Let's grab Sexta and get out of here."
Fragment from Anima's log 381
Name: Björn Flodhästen Engström [bjø:rn 'flu:dhεsten 'eŋstrø:m].
Type: Abomination, druid.
Age: 25.
Sex: Male.
Abilities:
1. Normal abilities of a combination of human organs and organs of a hippopotamus.
2. Ability to instantaneously replace any number of human organs in his body with the homologous to them organs of biorg from genus Hippopotamus and vice versa.
3. Ability to cover part of his body in delirium without negative effects to him.
4. Ability to slowly regenerate any part of his body if he regularly transforms it (At about the same rate as humans).
High sensitivity to the pheromones of myriadi.
Weaknesses:
1. Normal weaknesses of a combination of human organs and organs of a hippopotamus, except those neutralised by his abilities.
2. Contact with delirium not bound to his biopolymers causes uncontrolled bleeding through the whole surface of his skin.
3. Compulsion to obey myriadi.
Description: Note: Only his human form is described. He is a giant. He has blue eyes. His short blonde hair form a military buzz cut. He is built like a heavyweight sumo wrestler. He usually wears only a brown bathrobe.
End of fragment
Fragment from Anima's log 381
Name: Emma Hyenan Engström ['e:m:a hʏ'e:nan 'eŋstrø:m].
Type: Abomination, druid.
Age: 37.
Sex: Female.
Abilities:
1. Normal abilities of a combination of human organs and organs of a crocuta.
2. Ability to instantaneously replace any number of human organs in her body with the homologous to them organs of biorg from genus Crocuta and vice versa.
3. Ability to cover part of her body in delirium without negative effects to her.
4. Ability to slowly regenerate any part of his body if she regularly transforms it (At about the same rate as humans).
5. High sensitivity to the pheromones of myriadi.
Weaknesses:
1. Normal weaknesses of a combination of human organs and organs of a crocuta, except those neutralised by her abilities.
2. Contact with delirium not bound to her biopolymers causes uncontrolled bleeding through the whole surface of her skin.
3. Compulsion to obey myriadi.
Description: Note: Only her human form is described. She is about average height. She has brown eyes. Her wild hair is coloured similar to the fur of a spotted hyena. Her breasts are average-sized. Her figure is well-rounded. She usually wears only a brown bathrobe.
End of fragment
Fragment from Anima's log 381
Name: Håkan Fjärilen Engström ['ho:kan 'fjε:,rilen 'eŋstrø:m].
Type: Abomination, druid, myriadi.
Age: 40.
Sex: Male.
Abilities:
1. Normal abilities of a combination of human organs and organs of a morpho.
2. Ability to instantaneously replace any number of human organs in his body with the homologous to them organs of biorg from genus Morpho and vice versa. However, since homology between insect and mammal is very vague, he is capable only of full transformation.
3. Ability to cover part of his body in delirium without negative effects to him.
4. His body is fully restored after every transformation.
5. In the form of insect he can produce eggs, which quickly develops into an adult morpho under his control.
Weaknesses:
1. Normal weaknesses of a combination of human organs and organs of a morpho, except those neutralised by his abilities.
2. Contact with delirium not bound to his biopolymers causes uncontrolled bleeding through the whole surface of his skin.
Description: Note: Only his human form is described. He is tall. He has black eyes and short naturally blue hair. His face never shows any emotions. He has uncannily perfect muscular figure. He usually wears only a brown bathrobe.
End of fragment
Fragment from Anima's log 381
Name: Karin Ormen Engström ['ka:rin 'ʊrmen 'eŋstrø:m].
Type: Abomination, druid, tainted (The only tainted abomination, because of my interference).
Age: 19.
Sex: Female.
Abilities:
1. Normal abilities of a combination of human organs and organs of a titanoboa.
2. Ability to instantaneously replace any number of human organs in her body with the homologous to them organs of biorg from genus Titanoboa and vice versa. Due to her taint, several of her 'human' organs are actually modified organs of a titanoboa.
3. Ability to cover part of her body in delirium without negative effects to her.
4. Ability to slowly regenerate any part of his body if she regularly transforms it (At about the same rate as humans).
5. High sensitivity to the pheromones of myriadi.
6. Her taint neutralises the incompatibility between her organs in 'human' form.
Weaknesses:
1. Normal weaknesses of a combination of human organs and organs of a titanoboa, except those neutralised by her abilities.
2. Contact with delirium not bound to her biopolymers causes uncontrolled bleeding through the whole surface of her skin.
3. Compulsion to obey myriadi.
Description: Note: Only her 'human' form is described. She towers over almost every human because of the snake part of her body but her human part is comparable in size to a human of average height. She has yellow eyes. Her black hair almost reaches the snake skin on her back. Her breasts are a little smaller than relatively large. Just under her breasts her thorax gradually continues into the body of a giant black snake scaled down to match the width of human body. She usually wears only a brown bathrobe.
End of fragment
After Áviya and Utsuho left, druids stayed for some time.
"[Swedish]With all due respect to Helga, Håkan, I highly doubt that this is what she had in mind," said Emma.
"[Swedish]Of course, it isn't. But stronger enemies have better territory. It's our chance to prove ourselves. Do your best to not disappoint the highest myriadi," said Håkan. He turned to Karin. "[Swedish]And, you, the useless snake, explain your obsession with one of the enemies."
"[Swedish]I love her with all my heart! " said Karin.
"[Swedish]Karin, dear, don't you realise who she is? " said Emma. "[Swedish]The Living Biobomb would sooner drag your through the whole hospital than reciprocate your feelings."
"[Swedish]It's just because nobody likes her and everyone is cruel to her." said Karin. "[Swedish]It's just nasty rumours, anyway."
Emma sighed. "[Swedish]Love is blind."
"[Swedish]Enough," said Håkan. "[Swedish]She is useless anyway, so it doesn't matter if she is going to play with fire. But one thing, undivided, don't forget your duties."
"[Swedish]I will have as many children as necessary if Áviya is okay with that." said Karin.
"[Swedish]I doubt she will mind." said Emma.
Áviya and Utsuho flew in silence for some time.
"So, why Orin didn't go looking for Sexta. I thought that you were busy with the reactor."
"They doesn't talk to each other since Sexta learned that Orin hadn't told us about her religion. Also, she tore her arm off."
"She tore off youkai's arm?! Just how strong she is?! "
"She is definitely stronger than me. She just pulls her punches for some reason."
"Maybe it only looks like this because youkai aren't held back by the conservation of momentum. By the way, how strong are you? "
"Satori-sama said that I can theoretically lift a small blue whale. I think it's a kind of cow."
"They kinda are. Only about hundred times heavier. Wait, you mean you can lift about hundred tons?! No, don't answer this," said Áviya. "Actually,I wanted to ask you something. When you became a youkai, did it feel weird? "
"I had to get used to such a long body. It's weird to have legs way down there," said Utsuho. "I had to remind myself that these are my arms."
"The way you're holding Sexta certainly remind me of an eagle with her prey."
"Oh, and I discovered that I can see in the dark! Even with all colours! "
"That's impressive."
"No, Orin sees in the dark mush better than me. There some caves home where I won't go without a light but Orin knows them like a back of her paw. She still confuses some objects with clearly different colours for some reasons."
"Like red and green apples? "
"No, she doesn't have a problem with those. She doesn't see between ... . I don't know the name of those colours! You know, there is some flowers: Orin insists that they uniformly blue but I can clearly see patterns."
"So, this is what was the problem with her description you mentioned: she said that my clothes are monochrome but you can see different colours."
"Well, yes."
"I need you to help me choose my clothes next time. I can't afford to look a clown in the eyes of birds." Áviya noticed Utsuho's expression. "Don't worry, I'm just joking."
"It's not this. Orin also mentioned smell, but I don't feel anything."
"I don't feel anything either. But it might be just my anosmia."
"Anosmia? " said Utsuho is Áviya's voice.
"You're very good at imitating voices. I almost thought that I could add 'hearing voices' to the list of schizophrenia symptoms I exhibit. Anyway, anosmia is the inability to perceive smell. I have the congenital one."
"Do you suffer much from it? "
"Not really. It helped me get used to rotting flesh very fast."
"What's wrong with rotting flesh? Maggots are tasty."
"Well, not everyone is fortunate enough to have the liver of a scavenger. I can't digest the meat that isn't fresh. And humans tend to vomit when exposed to carrion. I mean, it's just a rotten heart without ventricles, there is no need to fill it! "
"Um... . Anyway, what were you doing under that boar? "
"What boar? Oh, you mean that hippo? Well, there was two humans: one wanted to kill but the other was against it, because she 'loves' me. What kind of objective argument is that?! "
"Love is a good reason to protect someone."
"Love is a weakness! It causes desire to reproduce and reproduction is an act of replacing yourself. Also, do you know how mammals reproduce? After conception foetus stays inside the mother, connects to her cardiovascular system and starts draining nutrients from her. And, after long period of encumbering her, they emerge, sometimes killing the mother."
"It's that terrible?! I'm glad I'm just laying eggs. Though I haven't felt the desire to do that since I've become a youkai for some reason."
"Interesting... ," said Áviya. "By the way, isn't Sexta taking too long to recover? "
"[Latino]Cerere, me ago gratiarum ad tui pro auxilii contra veneni de Apollinnis," said Sexta.
"She thinks Apollo helped her! " said Áviya. "It's more likely that he was busy herding muses on Parnassus."
Sexta lifted her head. "I don't need help from daemons, blasphemer," she spat. "You must die before your sins will lead you into the forge of Vulcanus."
"You can speak a real language?! " said Áviya. "Listen, you're very powerful and probably immortal, why do you need some weak gods? With your power nobody can make you obey them. You can do whatever you want."
"Actually, she wasn't able to defeat me," said Utsuho.
"Okay, there is some some youkai who can make you obey them. But Ceres and Apollo and Iuppiter and Vulcanus are just some weak ideal gods, why obey them? " said Áviya.
"Apollo and Iuppiter aren't gods! They are daemons! " said Sexta. "Obeying them is what you do! "
"Daemon often just means 'evil god.' Whether god is evil or good doesn't make difference to me. To influence my behaviour god have to be at least partially material, like Kanako," said Áviya. "And you, even with your gods and daemons, was defeated by mere butterflies."
Sexta growled.
"Out of arguments already? Usually I am the first to lose my temper in such conversations," said Áviya.
Sexta broke out of Utsuho's hold and plummeted to the ground. Utsuho dived after her, caught her and regained altitude holding thrashing Sexta by the wrist at arm's length.
"What the hell was that? Demonstration of her stupidity? " said Áviya.
"Well... ," said Utsuho. "The thing is that when she is very angry she starts attacking everybody and everything around her starts to melt or burn."
"So she is a berserker... ," said Áviya. "Okay, let's stop talking about gods for the sake of my survival. How did she learn Japanese? "
"We were fighting and I accidentally burned the skin from her forehead," said Utsuho. "Satori-sama noticed that she can read Sexta's mind when her skull is bare. So she hypnotised her and put the language in her brain."
"Put? " said Áviya.
"She was saying lots of words very quickly," said Utsuho. "She told us that her ability let her know which word will fit in each moment."
"I can imagine that: she and Sexta is sitting across from each other and you are constantly burning Sexta's forehead while Satori is speaking like Yuki casting her spells. Strangely, I never saw Anima doing that. Also, why it's so hot suddenly? "
"We are already in the Hell of Blazing Fires."
"Dammit, we need to need to cross it quickly before I will be fried alive. Would you help me? "
"Okay," said Utsuho. She took Áviya's hand and they shot off to Chireiden.
At Chireiden Utsuho and Áviya landed and Sexta jumped away from them.
"You brought a guest, Okuu? " said Satori.
"Damn," said Áviya.
Satori's third eye peered at Áviya. "Kill her," she said. A black cat leaped from a shadow and suddenly Orin was holding Áviya while the claws of her right hand resting at Áviya's throat.
"Unyu? " said Utsuho.
"May I play with her a little before that? " asked Orin playfully.
"No! " said Sexta. "She must be burned according to the ritual! "
"Your religion have a special ritual just for me? " said Áviya. "Orin, it's hard to speak with your claws so close to my thyroid cartilage."
"You are obviously the Chosen of Minerva," said Sexta. "Fire will purify you."
"I doubt it." said Áviya. "You'll need a pretty big fire to neutralise all the bacteria I'm carrying."
"So I have to choose between plague among my pets and having to tolerate your mess of a mind? " Satori sighed. "Orin, release her."
Freed, Áviya rubbed her throat closing the scratches. She looked around and said, "Can you do something about Sexta? She looks like she going to disembowel me."
"Sexta, go to your room," said Satori. "So, you want to know about my hypnosis."
"Wow, it's really much easier to talk with a telepath," said Áviya. "I bet you can't hypnotise me! "
"Hypnotising is just the matter of saying right words in the right moments," said Satori. "Let me demonstrate. Look into my eyes. Sleep... , blood..." So it continued for about ten minutes until Áviya was sitting on her knees in the state resembling catatonia.
"Well, that was disgusting," said Satori. "I need a bath after that."
"I will make one right away." said Áviya obediently, still with the grin on her face.
Satori winced. "What are the right words? .." she said. "Ah, yes... . [Castillian]Acepta a Jesucristo como tu señor y salvador."
Áviya's knife clinked on Utsuho's control rod in front of Satori's neck. "[Castillian]En los nueve infiernos." hissed Áviya.
"I didn't expect such a strong reaction," said Satori. "What did I say? "
" 'Accept Jesus Christ as your lord and saviour,' " said Áviya. "It was one of my father's favourite phrases."
"What happened to him? " Satori paused. "You killed him? "
"He was the first human I killed directly."
"Directly? "
"You know how it is with killing indirectly: someone forgets to close a tap, someone slips on the puddle, a car crashes, someone doesn't get their insulin in time and accidentally knocks off a crate, it falls on the tail of a cat, who becomes angry, catches a mouse and eats her."
"It seems that the only reason you aren't saying everything you think is because you don't have enough time for that," said Satori.
"Maybe. So, how did the hypnosis go? "
"You are very creepy when being obedient, so I had to end the hypnotic trance quickly," said Satori.
Áviya's grin widened but she said nothing.
" 'Let me lick you feet, Mistress'? " said Satori.
"That would be inappropriate, wouldn't it? " said Áviya.
"Yes, it would" said Satori.
"By the way, I would to work with Utsuho on one project." said Áviya. "Is this all right if I ..."
"Don't listen to her! " interrupted Sexta who entered a moment before. "It's all Minerva's lies! "
"Unlike you, I don't need Minerva to lie. Also, I never misrepresent facts." said Áviya.
Sexta growled at leaped at her missing only because Áviya swiftly rose in the air.
"I think you better leave," said Satori. "And I don't think that angering Sexta is 'fun'."
"If you say so." said Áviya. "Utsuho, would help me get through the Hell of Blazing Fires? "
"Okay," said Utsuho.