A/N: Coronavirus is a bitch, sorry for the delay guys!
Level 17.B
Turning the corner of an empty street with nary a thought given to the path I was taking.
I had no need for it.
The path to her changes every day yet my feet would always take me to her.
I stop when my legs experience the sensation of cool running water flowing around it.
Always on the move. Even the times allocated for self-reflection purposes carried the undercurrent of "achieving something", but right here, right now?
I took in the sounds, smell and sights of her world.
Truly, it was like an entirely different world. I could fly through the sky, dive into parts of the sea that no man has seen, yet it was only this place that I would feel compelled to just stop moving.
Standing atop the flowery hill, there she sat, basking in the evening twilight eternally etched into this world.
Even though I knew I would misplace this scene in my memories as I go through my ever-eventful life, yet as always, I simply had the urge to commit this instant of our meeting to memory.
At the sound of the water being disturbed, she turned around, the strong wind blowing some of those golden locks past her face. Yet like myself, she was feeling her own sense of Deja Vu and fondness for the sight, if the manner in which she kept those green eyes locked on me was any indication.
When I leave this place it becomes easy to get caught up with the things I want, need and should do, to the point where the beauty of life and the people living it may slip my mind.
Even with my lovers and family always there for me, there's always a tiny moment of weakness where I take them for granted in the refuge of my mind. The girl over there had confided similar experiences with me, that there were times she would feel, think or do things that weren't true to herself at her lowest moments.
We were not vulnerable to such weaknesses in this safe haven just for the two of us, in this place far removed from the variables of life, our thoughts, intents and actions were much more focused and clear.
A soft laugh made it's way to my ears, "Hehe, it's nibbling on you." Followed by words that confused me.
I looked down and found tiny fishes nibbling on my submerged foot, I never was one for Ichthyotherapy, and I was secretly ticklish so… thank goodness I still had my shoes and pants on.
This was the only place I would truly let my guard down, in a manner of speaking. If only because I had taken precautions to ensure that everyone would be safe in the waking world, including my own body.
Either way, my selective focus, and reduced awareness were apparent through a beginner's mistake like this.
"You added fish this time, Asia." The nun had added all manner of small critters into her own mindscape after I taught her how to take control of her mind a little more.
"I put them there a week ago. It's the first time you've seen them though… you really should step out of the water. What if you catch a cold?" Asia Argento appeared seriously worried for my wellbeing, even from this distance, a perk of this world allowed our voices to reach each other no matter the distance if we willed it. As such, her voice sounded as if she were speaking right in front of me.
"The common cold may be serious business in Japan but you know me, I'm too fit for that." I walked out of the river water, making my way to her.
She hummed a tune, before smiling brightly at me, "Your overconfidence is your weakness."
There was more truth in that than she knew, "And so it is."
"I believe that it is common courtesy to answer a quote with another."
"Ah, but I did milady! It simply came from the Prequel trilogy rather than the Original."
We easily slipped into a conversation without the need for ordinary greetings. There was no need for us to start with any small talk questions or the like. There would be a time and place for that later, but right now, both of us were simply having fun.
Asia tilted her head slightly, placing a finger to her chin, in a typical cute anime girl style that came native to her. "It doesn't ring a bell. I suppose it must be from Revenge of the Sith then. The last one…"
She had finished my extended Clone Wars series (including Ahsoka vs Maul and some other comic scenes) over a week ago. Since then, she wanted to take a break to prepare her heart for the final film, at least, that was the excuse she gave.
I hadn't addressed it then as I wanted to give her some space while I took the time to figure out the reason behind her hesitance. It took a while until I began to comprehend the mind of a teenage girl responsible for this rationale.
"Asia, we have spent some time together almost every day since we've met. I have taught you a lot about the world outside the church you grew up in, and you have taught me more than you have realized about the God I once loved wholeheartedly."
The slight shock on her face and sudden swelling of sadness within her confirmed my suspicions.
"G-Gen, wh-what are you saying? Why are you telling me this?"
I crouched down a little, trying to make sure that our eyes were leveled, making sure that my smile wouldn't leave my face.
"You have become a far greater friend to me than I could ever hope to be for anyone else. Asia, I want you to know that just because I would have finished showing what I wanted you to see, it doesn't mean that we will stop hanging out, talking or being friends with each other. I know you dread that our time together could end at any point, but I assure you, even if that were to happen we will always be friends."
Part of her fear was due to a mistake of mine for being a bit too excited about the ending everything on Revenge of the Sith that I neglected Asia's unsupported fears on our connection ending after it.
There was no evidence for our time together to come to an end at all, but due to her belief that our meeting was for a purpose, she had begun to worry if that purpose would have been fulfilled if she met some sort of condition… and my accidental omission of Star Wars Rebels, other technical "prequel" material, and obsession with my favorite movie of all time had fed her imagination.
Leading her to jump to some conclusions even though she internally acknowledged she had no real clue on "God's Will", which was what she believed enabled our connection in the first place.
"I-I was so… I just, I'm sorry for being selfish." And now she's under the impression that it's selfish to just want our time here to continue. I returned the hug after she latched onto me.
"There's nothing to apologize for. I feel the same way." Whilst my words could mean to say that I wanted our connection to remain firm, which was true as well, that wasn't the entire story.
I was also referring to our very similar fear of having what is important to us being taken away at the blink of an eye without us being able to do anything about it. For her, it was this special connection with me, and for myself, well… it's basically having everything I cherish being destroyed by the OP characters.
We stayed that way for a while, until Asia went through the usual abashed "hawawa" mode as if she was some Japanese anime girl, then composed herself. Taking my hand, she led me to the plains, where I could see the little home she had for herself and a replica of a Vatican-styled building far into the distance.
"Is this what you've been working on?"
"Ehehe, kind of. Well, I made that some time ago, but somewhere farther away then I moved it closer today."
"Gotta love spatial manipulation. If only we could do that in real life, it would be so convenient."
"Oh! Like those city builder games, you tell me about?"
"Uhuh. Just so you know, I have absolutely terrible designing skills for buildings. I like to see my numbers go up rather than making things look nice."
"But that's cruel to the people living there!"
"If the AI could tell the difference I would put in the effort to make it look nice! I'm the type of guy that picks the nice guy options in games."
"Mm-hmm, that sounds like you. Uuu, I think I'll end up taking the same options. Is there any games that can be completed without hurting anyone?"
"...Uhhhhh…" I quickly thought of Skyrim and Dark Souls "Pacifist" runs… then I decided against playing those together in the future, "Undertale. It's a game about flowers and friendship." From a certain point of view. "Would you like me to set that game up?" It'll take some time to memorize everything to reproduce it here, she knew that much.
"Yes! Thank you, thank you!" She skipped a bit, then slipped, dragging me down a soft grassy hill. We went from "Whoa" to a fit of giggles as we rolled in the grass together.
It's not like we could get hurt here so accidents from Asia's occasional clumsiness simply meant a pleasant surprise.
Of course, little innocent Asia got all embarrassed as we ended up face-to-face, with me right on top of her. I moved out of the way for quick separation, even if I didn't blush like a boy my age would in an anime.
"Oh um… t-take a look here!" She clasped her hands together then opened them quickly, releasing dozens of colorful butterflies! "I managed to um... convince the lead missionary to take me to a butterfly park, during one of our trips. Ah! I didn't know that butterflies could have so many colors until then."
"They're beautiful."
"They are. Although it's a bit scary when you look at insects up close, most of them are still cute, I think."
Asia shared a bit about how she's made good progress in her cooking skills ever since she volunteered to work at the cafeteria. Apparently, the higher-ups were rather against it, saying that she had better things to do but she stayed firm on it and managed to get a compromise.
I knew they just wanted her to be their heal slut and all, so to see her managing to try out different ways of serving others rather than just healing people with Twilight Healing made me smile in pride.
We watched my "enhanced" version of Revenge of the Sith later on, including scenes from the novelization to show how Anakin is torn in so many directions, how he's basically running on zero sleep most of the time, how not being granted the rank of Master was so significant, etc…
She enjoyed the entirety of the Battle of Coruscant until of course, the Dooku vs Obi Wan and Anakin fight. Needless to say, everything went downhill the moment Dooku's severed head hit the floor.
By now, her Clone Wars experience and the knowledge of their inevitable fate had made all the scenes rather tragic, and when Asia saw Anakin and Obi-Wan saying goodbye, she had already guessed correctly that it would be the last time they would see each other as friends.
She pinched my shoulder quite often throughout the movie, especially during the Palpatine scenes whenever she realizes I've been quoting the Sith Lord that she disliked greatly, comparing him with the devil especially after he told Anakin of the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise.
Needless to say, she was suitably horrified at Anakin's response to "Master Skywalker, there are too many of them, what are we going to do?" Asia was so emotionally drained by Order 66 and the ongoing tragedy that she only regained her energy when the hopeful parts of the ending came along.
Before we could discuss the movie, however, it was time for me to leave for my trip.
I awoke to an unfamiliar and horrifying ceiling.
It was the interior of our family car.
"Ah, you're awake." Upon closer inspection, my head was laying on Valerie's lap, which was really soft, smooth and comfy… nothing like sand. "Good morning, darling." She whispered with her native accent that sounded really nice in my head.
Top quality lap pillow service. I like this, I like this a lot.
What I didn't like was the fact that my clones had apparently assisted in putting my sleeping body into the car without my permission.
The memories from my clones began to flow into my head. Apparently, we were leaving for the beach earlier than expected, due to some last minute changes to a more luxurious hotel, courtest of Atago's parents who would be joining us.
My siblings were asleep with my mother taking care at the middle row while Valerie and I were seated in the back row.
"Good morning to you too Valerie. And um, thank you for this."
"Ufufu, so you like this sort of thing? Ah, the internet truly does provide."
"Please use the internet sensibly."
"Worrywart."
I wanted to lie down for a bit more but I needed to send new directives to the more limited clones that weren't synched up with me while I slept. From my other bodies, I quickly moved to the new destination in order to scout it out, having done so with the previous location but not this particular beach and hotel. I would spread out from the main location later in order to scan through the entire city, one can never be too sure…
Sitting up, I saw and heard a truck pass by on the other side of the road at high speeds, and quickly placed my head back down on Valerie's lap.
"Scary…" Truck-sama still haunts me to this day.
"What's wrong?" Valerie looked upon me with worry, and also, fear. Well, if there was something that could scare me, then it should scare her too, right?
I wasn't going to say "nothing" like some tough guy. That wasn't me. And I most certainly am not some Japanese anime character that would bottle it all up.
I whispered in a soft voice, "Would you believe me if I said that I was killed in a car accident involving a truck and got reincarnated in another world? Like, this world, with added trauma for certain vehicles?"
Valerie went "hmm", then nodded, "It would explain why your soul feels older than that of your parents."
"... Figures. Well, to keep things fair, I'll get Atago here and I will disclose everything to the both of you after dinner, okay?" I rather not just reveal the truth to just one person, especially another female.
I have consumed enough media to know that the female mind is a pathway to much drama that some consider to be... unnatural. Perceived favoritism and trust related issues are a significant cause for drama, so it's best that I minimize things.
The dhampir showed visible happiness when she realized how much trust I was showing her.
Ah, through my other bodies, I was already at the site.
Oh dear.
I used my shadow that was linked to Atago's shadow in order to send her a private message.
"Please tell me that the Fallen Angel and the Sacred Gear wielding group of twenty kids, checked into a nearby resort is something that your family is aware of."
