The Promised Neverland AU
By: FunahoMisaki
(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter)
"Good job with last night." Emma said nodding to the group as she entered the library, wondering why they all stood up almost at attention when she entered.
"Thank you." Anna said since she had been the one in charge of timing the switch out.
"Take a seat and let's get started." Emma said sitting at the head of the table like she usually did and the other seven immediately sat down in a certain order, something Emma noticed but didn't really think anything about. If they decided they wanted to sit in a certain order then that was up to them, not like she was going to enforce it or anything.
"What's first on the list Gilda?" Emma asked the girl who was pretty much acting as a personal secretary by now.
"First is an overview on how everything is going with everyone's respective tasks and groups. After that we have several questions for you if you're up for it." Gilda said without skipping a beat and making Emma nod.
"I'm always up for answering questions. Things were dramatic and tense last time because of Ray and Normans desire to keep things a secret and because I went along with it, I'm not going to make that mistake again." Emma said and the group tensed a bit at the sound of the boys names but they relaxed upon hearing that Emma would answer their questions.
"Of course if I have a good reason not to tell you the answer I'll of course inform you of that reason and refuse to answer, I will not lie." Emma restated her stance on that and the group was a lot more relaxed at being reminded that if she wasn't going to answer them, then she'd tell them why she wasn't going to answer them.
"Alright so how's everyone doing with their tasks?" Emma asked and the group decided to start like they had discussed doing.
"Well we've been helping everyone out where we can and acting like normal so that Mom doesn't realize that we know!" Thoma and Lani chorused from the far end of the table, making Emma nod. She had made sure that the others understood that they were to move in the shadows while Emma, Norman, and Ray had all of Mama's attention focused on them.
"The garden has some saplings finally in and they've been planted. A few are your basic flowers, but there are also some cooking herbs and a strange weed like plant that Mama said was called Vida?" Nat asked more than said at the end and Emma twitched a bit but nodded her head.
"Yeah it's a vampiric plant that the demons use when preparing to eat us as part of a ritual to their god. If he accepts it and the food is good then the plant drains all the blood of the victim and blooms. It extends the shelf life of the meat and will be useful for when we have to hunt for our food in the woods of the outside world." Emma said and the others were silent for a moment. It was obvious that the meat the demons used it for was them. Their siblings had that plant shoved into their chests while they were still alive…
Nat clenched his fists. He was growing a plant that was used in the murder of his siblings. He didn't like it, but he understood that they would need it and it would be useful whenever they were having to hunt for their own food. He would continue to grow the plant and sneak away parts of it when it was full grown, but only for his remaining siblings and because Emma had asked it of him.
Emma knew what she was doing and he trusted her. If she wanted him to grow the plant then he'd grow the damn plant.
"I've been learning everything I can of medicine and any medical plants that Nat has found out about. Mom is teaching me basic first aid and Thoma and Lani have been a great help for practicing some of the bandaging and wraps on. Mom says that in another week or so she won't be able to teach me anything else because she doesn't know it herself. I've also taken the liberty of reading up on psychological diseases and disorders and things that can affect us mentally. I figured it might be useful for when we are struggling to survive." Anna reported next and left unspoken was the fact that she had looked up mental disorders in order to see if there was anything she could do to help Emma with her nightmares and PTSD.
"That's a good idea Anna and thank you for taking the initiative with that. Near death experiences will definitely take their toll on everyone and I'm glad you thought ahead for it." Emma said smiling warmly at Anna who flushed a bit but preened happily at being praised by Emma for her forward thinking.
"I've been working on my fitness and aim involving moving targets. While I'll never be as strong as you are, I'm definitely going to be the second strongest so that I can help protect the others when we escape. My aim's improved so that I can hit the target ten times out of ten when standing still I'm only at six out of ten when it comes to me or the target moving. I'll keep working on it and then move up to both myself and the target moving while I aim." Don said crossing his arms over his chest and making Emma nod.
"You're doing great Don, and I'll definitely be relying on you to protect the others when I can't. Things will definitely be easier once we get to the shelter at B06 and get ahold of the guns. For now though we'll have to rely on rocks and anything we can get sharp enough. To that end I want you to start sharpening some tree branches and sticks to use as spears or javelins whenever you can. You can recruit whoever you need to in order to make enough…and when you're not busy with your own tasks I want everyone to get familiar with them." Emma said and everyone nodded their heads.
"Looks like we'll be working on making long pointy objects boys." Don said grinning at Thoma and Lani who gave matching wide grins at that. Making mischief and makeshift weapons…oh yeah this was going to be fun.
"I've finished reading any book I could on tactics and have moved on to studying flora as well so I'll be able to help Nat when it comes to edible plants and all in the wild. I've also been reading and memorizing Ugo's Adventures. I've been able to sneak up on all of the children except for yourself multiple times now and manage to sneak up on Mom 3 out of 10 times. I'll work on improving that. By contrast sneaking up on Sister Krone is much easier, I can pull it off on average of 7 out of 10 times. I've found another book of tactics that I thought you'd like to read." Gilda said setting another book on the table that Emma immediately grabbed.
"Thanks. I'll read it and be done by tomorrow. Before we move on to the questions is there anything else that anyone wants to report?" Emma asked and they all looked at each other then.
"Thoma and I've finished memorizing Ugo's Adventures like you asked, and we've started getting the other kids in on discreetly getting supplies stashed away." Lani said while Thoma nodded in agreement.
"A few of the other kids in on things now have started helping me in the garden and learning about plants." Nat reported next.
"Yvette and Jemima have started learning how to do first aid as well, but Yvette will probably be more into the hunting or gathering group soon since she's more active and brave than Jemima." Anna said after a few seconds.
"All of the kids in the know have taken to the advanced tag and hide and seek with gutso since they know we're training them to escape now. I've started forming them up in teams to work together and help cover each others weaknesses. I'll make sure I swap them around so that they learn how to cover for and work with everyone equally. Don't be surprised if you see a couple of them trying to follow you or keep up with the starting parts of your morning exercises." Don said and Emma grimaced a bit at that.
"Try to keep them from copying me exactly. I'm not normal and if they try to keep up with me they'll only end up hurting themselves." Emma said and Don nodded his head in understanding and agreement. His own exercises were far more normal compared to Emma's monster workout. Maybe he'd be able to convince the kids to follow his work out instead?
"I've taken the liberty of drawing up tactics and guard shifts for when we escape. That way everyone has a chance to memorize them before we leave. We can also start practice having the kids stay awake in shifts in order to practice for when we're in the wild and have to sleep in turns to keep up a guard." Gilda said and Emma nodded to her gratefully.
"Alright. Now…you all have questions." Emma said and it certainly wasn't a question as she looked at them all, leaning back in her chair as she awaited the discussion.
"Knowing the demons weak point is a given, time traveler and all, but…when were you going to tell us about it?" Don asked crossing his arms over his chest as he stared at her.
"As soon as you could hit the target 5 out of ten times while one of you was in motion." Emma said and Don nodded at that, resolving to improve his aim further.
"Why did you tell Sister Krone about the demons weakness?" Nat asked making Emma sigh slightly.
"Last time around Mama got rid of her. Sister Krone was killed and eaten by the demons. By telling her about their weak spot I'm giving her at least a fighting chance at survival. Like I said before, she turned out to be an ally." Emma said and Nat nodded his head slightly. So she had been trying to give Krone a fighting chance at survival so that Krone could help them more in the future this time than she had last time. Makes sense.
"You told her to give a message to a person called Grandma…why?" Thoma asked making Emma nod to him, it was a good question after all.
"Grandma is the person in charge of all the Moms and Sisters. She's the one who hands the babies off to Mama at the gate. As you already know I remember as far back as when Mama was pregnant with me this time around…which means I remember Grandma Sarah, the current Grandma, and how she had blackmailed Mama with information on Mama's daughter, me, while handing me off to Mama. I remember seeing her several times when I was a baby and she would praise how developed I already was compared to the others. That and she kept calling me an experiment. I just figure that if Sister Krone is going to be killed then she'll probably end up seeing or talking to Grandma before she is attacked and therefore can pass the message along." Emma said with a shrug.
"Why are you calling yourself an experiment?" Anna asked the question that they were all wondering.
"Because that's what I am. An experiment." Emma said as if it were obvious.
"How so?" Gilda asked staring at Emma.
"I don't know exactly how they experimented on me, I have no waking memory of it, but it isn't hard to figure out that they did. I told you about the experimental facility Lamba where they preform experiments on the ones taken there. One of the ones I recall from there, Barbara, is inhumanely strong. Another one, Hayato, is supremely fast. They both have those abilities but they suffer from seizures and coughing up blood due to the experiments…which is the reason why they have those abilities. Last time around I wasn't anywhere near as strong or fast as I am…and yet this time I'm at least as strong as Barbara and as fast as Hayato without any of the seizures and all to go with it. Hence…I was somehow experimented on." Emma said and they all looked horrified at hearing about the side effects that came with the enhanced abilities.
"What else about you is different from last time?" Don asked in morbid curiosity as he stared at her.
"Well my hair is pretty much the same, just darker at the tips. My eyes though…they're definitely from the experiments. Last time my eyes were both green but this time…well…" Emma shrugged a bit there, it was hard not to notice her one purple eye and one red eye after all.
"Not just that but this time around I was born with my previous scars as birthmarks." Emma said and they all blinked at that.
"Birthmarks?" Thoma asked and Emma nodded as she stood up, pulling up her shirt a bit to show them the marks on her stomach and then turning around and pulling the shirt up higher to show the marks on her back.
"Last time I was run through by a demon. I managed to live thanks to luck, sheer force of will, and everyone helping me. I was out for four weeks though and if that repeats itself then I want you all to be prepared for it." Emma said and they looked horrified but nodded slowly in understanding. Holy shit. She had survived something like that?!
"You…said a strange name while talking with Sister Krone and mentioned a 'Demon God laughing his ass off where only I can hear him' so…about that…" Gilda trailed off and Emma nodded once to her.
"Yeah he's the demon god, the one who originally split the human and demon world in two a thousand years ago. He's the one who sent me back in time and is probably the reason why I'm an experiment this time around. Apparently I'm entertaining to him, that's why he keeps a close eye on me and we have some sort of mind link. We can talk to each other in my mind and I can hear him laugh his tiny ass off all the time. He's strong, no two ways about that, but he's bored easily and finds it amusing that I'm the only one who's not scared of him to the point of openly calling him a pipsqueak. Should have heard him laughing at the look on Sister Krone's face last night." Emma said the last bit with a smirk. The others were awed at hearing this.
A demon god with the power to split worlds was interested in Emma? To the point of having a mind link with her and she was allowed not just free communications with him but allowed to disrespect him to the point of calling him a pipsqueak?
Speaking of whom Emma wondered why he was laughing so damn hard this time.
She figured it was the looks on the others faces at the bombshell she just gave them.
She didn't know it was because that same bomb shell of news just reaffirmed the thoughts they had about her and their choices to follow her.
She was definitely a queen at the least. No two ways about it in their minds. The only thing that she could be aside from a queen was a goddess, and considering she was still human as far as they knew….queen it is.
"Holy shit." Anna was the one to murmur that only for the others to nod dumbly in agreement. Emma called an end to the meeting to let them process that news while she went to go and cuddle with Mama.
"So…all for calling her a Queen and treating her like one?" Gilda asked and the other six immediately raised their hands in agreement.
"All for letting the others know that we're following a time traveling queen who wants to save us all?" Nat asked this time and once again every hand was in the air.
"All for not caring a damn bit about the fact that she's an experiment and just being grateful that she's on our side and wants to save us?" Don asked and one last time every hand was raised into the air.
"It's decided!" Lani said brightly and grinning slightly.
"Emma is a queen!" Thoma continued.
"And we call dibs on being her jesters!"