I'm sorry this chapter is late. It's been a strange week for me...
"Here you go, Purrcy." Akatsuki handed over the remote control for the disc player. "Would you like some popcorn?"
"Thank you, Akatsuki. I'm okay. I'll just watch it and get back to work," Purrcy answered her from the couch in front of the large screen.
"I'm sorry I shouldn't stay."
Purrcy reassured her younger friend, "As I said, that's fine. I'm sure the rest of you have seen it enough. I wouldn't watch it myself, having lived it, but I'd really like to make sure of the details that got said so that I don't say things I shouldn't." Akatsuki bowed, turned down the lights in the game room, and closed the door behind her.
Purrcy shivered slightly. Really, she didn't want to watch it. Remembering hard things when she was going to have to walk through hard things coming again wasn't really what she wanted to face, but to postpone it any longer was wasteful of time. Particularly when she didn't have so much to be doing yet anyway since she didn't have a computer.
Once she had permission for one of those, she was sure she'd be so busy she wouldn't remember to eat or breathe. She hoped she could stay away from manga and anime. She was years behind and would probably binge without sleep for two weeks straight to get caught up.
They hadn't added those in as questions on her mental exam and she hadn't given it away. Not that it was secret. The whole guild and all the Adventurers of Minami and Akiba knew now. Purrcy sighed. She was sure she'd rather spend the two weeks after the wedding doing that binge instead of what she was going to have to do.
She pushed the play button on the remote and was quickly caught up in her story. To see the beginning again was to have lots of nostalgic memories. Somewhere in there someone came in quietly but went back to the snack section in the corner and started the microwave. She barely paid attention to the sound of popping popcorn, caught up in what were happy memories for her.
"This next bit's my favorite," a voice whispered in her ear.
Purrcy jumped a little. Michael smiled at her, then sat on the back of the couch and put his legs over it like he was still a teenager. He slid down to sit next to her, one arm around her shoulders, the other holding a bag. "Popcorn?" he held it out to her.
She rolled her eyes at him, took some, and went back to watching the screen. The "next bit" was where he was introduced to the story. Her eyebrows raised a bit to see the grilling he got after she disappeared.
"They wouldn't let me even breathe - not that you did either - so I had to cut and run for cover. I totally forgot to get out of the internal prison, but that was okay. It let me relearn to stand on my own again. A lesson I remembered and forgot again regularly." He tossed a handful of popcorn in his mouth, holding the bag between his knees so he could keep the other arm around her.
They watched a bit more, then he pointed, "And it surprised me to see that just as much as having you just open the door did ...that you'd just smoothly done it as part of your conversation." He chuckled. "A smooth operator from the beginning and through the whole thing - if one wasn't looking behind the scenes." She nodded.
She'd been about to scold him since that's what it hadn't been. But then, that's what it hadn't been for all of them. While the movie was trying to show it had been difficult for them, only so much detail could be put in. It came across like all movies did - like they'd had hard emotions and times, but it had all fit together so nicely for them. Still, those putting the movie together had tried and done fairly well with what they had.
When they got to the hard parts, particularly when it was between the two of them, Michael whispered quietly in Purrcy's ear what he had really been feeling and how it had affected him later. It was rather a lot like how it was so hard for them to convey what Nyanta had really been like and how hard it had been for him to be locked away to only watch helplessly as the High Priest and Izanagi did things that made everyone hurt so much.
Michael held her tightly through the times of the early losses of the kittens. When she couldn't watch the trial and battle that sent Nyanta back into the Gate of Time, she hid her head in his chest, although she listened to it so she understood what had been put into the movie.
She shivered after that, but he pet her head. "It's okay. It's not in the movie. They didn't participate in the ocean trip on this side, remember, so I refused to tell them." She looked up at him in surprise, and he looked back at her soberly. "Just like I refused to tell them in the States when they came asking for the story on that side. As far as anyone knows we just crossed the ocean."
He glanced up at the screen and nodded at it. "It's a heroic rescue and a ship tossed at sea. Watch." He looked back at her and Purrcy took a breath and sat back up, but she curled up into his side, glad to have him to help her through this suddenly.
It was indeed a heroic rescue from the shrine - of the sort that was exaggerated for film, but that was okay, ending with them fleeing on the Oki Watarimono. As Shiroe worried in his office a side visual showed the Oki Watarimono in the middle of the ocean in a sea storm.
Then it was the even more dramatic fight for Time where Nyanta was finally shown to be the hidden hero and ally of Michael. "You kept your mouth closed there, too, since I know they didn't talk to Nyanta," she commented dryly.
"It made their day to be told to run with it, actually," he answered nearly as dry. "Shiroe and I did pound it into their heads that Nyanta was the hidden ace and a hero as well, though, until they played that part properly. Shiroe refused to release the first three proposed versions because of that one scene. They'd made Nyanta so evil they wanted him to stay the bad guy."
"It wouldn't have worked," she answered, shaking her head.
"No, and that's what we told them, too."
The next scene was a complete skip of what happened during the Gate of Time sequence, even leaving out MeowLi, but then most of what went on in the Gate of Time was left out. "Was that because Nyanta wasn't available and neither was I?" she asked, pausing the movie since it was such a sudden jump to just her and Nyanta reappearing with the children.
"Somewhat," Michael said. "Nyanta told Shiroe about the first time in the Gate of Time, of course. And I knew what you two did for those fourteen years, but we had to cut something out to keep it short enough to be seen as one movie instead of three to five and that seemed to be an easy cut, to take out all of level seven.
"The horror of that level was more than Shiroe could show to the whole world, particularly since he didn't want to undo what the AIs had done in erasing it from those Adventurers who'd made bad decisions. Leaving it a black box was enough for this movie. It barely made it at that.
"For the American side, I've told them they need to include the short backstory of my first visit to the Gate of Time to explain how we did the time-warp at the beginning, since I think the Devourer is a good short lead-in thriller and necessary for them to get the rest of the story, but I could see they were already looking forward to making you the evil character in that one and didn't like that, so I put a bit of a damper on it.
"Now that you're actually here, maybe they'll want to interview you and get a different take - that is if you want to condone such a thing at all." He wrinkled his nose at the reopening of publicity again.
"Maybe we should see what comes out of the Indian movie first," Purrcy said, nearly horrified.
"It was worse?" Michael asked.
"I was only Izanami to all of you. I was something else for the others." He pursed his lips at her but she turned away and started the movie going again. She still wasn't ready to talk about the other things she'd done around the world yet, if ever, although the other movies would rat her out.
She sighed a bit to herself and got caught up in the final battle under the World Tree. "You know, if the others were going to come out, this should have been held in reserve to be the final movie."
"It still could be. We had to make it real short, and I wouldn't be surprised if the others have to do the same as well."
Purrcy nodded, watching the levels they'd gone through being shortened until they were already at the center. "Nice CGI. Pretty true to reality even."
Michael agreed, "Yeah, it's one of the things that got called on all the time for it being fiction instead of reality. But when we would ask how the story could be the same for all of us if it wasn't, they had to shut their mouths. They weren't there, they couldn't know, and the rest of us who had been were all in agreement.
"Scattered mass hallucinations was the best they had and no sane real human believes that's possible on the world wide scale. It's been one of the reasons some have been giving for getting the other movies out - to show it was the same ending for us all."
The Adventurers on the screen were waking back up on Earth now, families weeping for joy, others weeping because their child or parent hadn't returned. The final scene was Shiroe standing in front of Log Horizon Systems telling the world that they would work their hardest to find the way to open up the way back to Theldesia to retrieve as many other Adventurers as they could, even though the technology was so much more advanced than Earth's.
"Good advertising at the time," Purrcy said quietly.
"Yeah. The families remember it, as you saw on your first day on the job. So do those who have to put blame somewhere so it can finally get written off the government books. No one else does. They just remember the Adventurers came home." He kissed the side of her head. "Except you. They all know you didn't, and now they all know you have. We're still waiting to see what the full outcry will end up being."
"Shiroe's still protecting me from the press," she said, slumping into Michael.
"Yup," he agreed.
"I guess I'm grateful, but I'll get working on my statements. I'm really not afraid to face them, you know. And it's better to get it out sooner than later." Purrcy went to sit up but Michael pulled her into his lap, trading out the mostly empty bag of popcorn, and plucked the remote out of her hand.
He clicked a button and it went to the menu screen. He selected again and it went to the additional extras at the end. He selected a specific menu item. She watched and listened in fascination as the cast and the people they'd played sat together and were interviewed.
It was entertaining, but she was listening more for what kinds of questions were asked. It was her lesson in what they'd had to face. Even the actors would be surprised at the answers of reality sometimes. "As fanciful as the movie itself was," was a final sum said. She tisked at that.
"Um-hm," he nodded. "They wanted to sell a show. We wanted to tell a true story. It wasn't always compatible nor pretty."
Purrcy sat in contemplation for a bit. "The sum then, is to keep it brief and general, not letting them get to those details that both don't matter and are too fanciful. ...Unless I want to be entertaining, then let it all loose, but keep it consistent so that it doesn't get torn to shreds, because then they'll tear me to shreds."
Michael ran his hand over her head. "Exactly. And I'm pretty sure Shiroe's going to turn down every venue that wants entertainment only. They were the hardest to stay in control on. We've got smiles on in them, but they were really killing grins."
"I get that." It came out deadpan. He gave her a squeeze. "I'd really show my claws in those kind though, so then I could really be the evil queen at the end of the whole thing. The U.S. one should come out second to last and then the final battle movie." She hissed and clawed at the air.
Michael chuckled at her, but seriously said, "We don't want that either, just like we didn't want it for Nyanta-san. You were the angel of mercy at the end that we all needed. To see you meant we knew that the battle was finally almost over and we could be allowed to rest, that there was hope of escape when we'd had all hope taken away." He rubbed his head on her head. "We're not going to let them change that part either, if it gets told."
"Then make sure the U.S. one gets told right for the lead in."
He nodded. "Maybe if you're the point of contact for that one it will be, but let's decide if it even needs to be told first. Like I said, a lot of the Adventurers there don't like the idea."
"From the beginning of arrival, or from when you guys got there?" she asked.
"From the beginning."
"Then we could just tell the Eagle's story. It's shorter and action packed. Plus, already the military wants that much, I'm sure, to have even more positive publicity. Really, it's my favorite part of the whole story anyway. I'd even play me to make sure it was done right."
He stared at her, then shook his head. "Then I'd have to play me."
"Okay." His eyes went really wide. "You're already followed by paparazzi. Not like that's going to change, and then everyone will know just how hard you had to fight."
Michael's brow wrinkled at Purrcy. "You know it's really hard to be an actor or actress, right? And the hours are brutal, with the retakes over and over again."
"I know," she said mildly. "But we played the parts then."
He suddenly took her in both of his arms and held her close. "God, Purrcy. My heart wouldn't take it, playing all those emotions all over again, particularly with you really there to hear them this time."
"I heard them the first time," she said gently and patted him on the back. "I'm okay with leaving out my time in the Gate of Time. It might allow the furor over Nyanta to die down some and be a follow-on to our wedding as to why you were grieving for me and wanted me to marry you. It would tell the return story, too, of why I'm back."
Michael gasped in a breath and started trembling. "No. No, I really couldn't do that, nor deal with it being told." He shook his head firmly.
Purrcy pet him gently and held him until he was able to calm down. Because he needed it, and because she was grateful he'd come to watch the movie with her to help her get through it, she lifted his chin and gave him a long gentle kiss until he finally relaxed, but she didn't let it get to passion. "Thank you for watching with me," she said quietly just as the door opened.
"Hey, hey," Naotsugu's voice cut into the room. "No making out in public places. Aren't you two old enough to have learned that yet?"
Purrcy giggled. Michael looked over his shoulder at Naotsugu. "Just having a date with my wife. Nothing wrong with that."
"Oh, is that what it was?" Purrcy said, but she gave him a kind smile when he looked back to check. She rose from his lap to put the remote away and clean up the electronics while Michael went to throw away the empty popcorn bag and razz Naotsugu back for not knowing better than to not interrupt serious dates.
"In the middle of the day, man? You can get fired for that," Naotsugu scolded back.
Michael shook his head. "Naw. Not here, and not when it's our story she has to watch to know what she's allowed to talk about or not."
Purrcy was surprised when Naotsugu went sober at that comment. "You okay, Purrcy?" he asked, turning to her.
"Yes, Naotsugu, thank you for asking. The worst parts were cut out or shortened. There were only a couple of scenes I couldn't watch directly. I'm grateful that the Gate of Time wasn't in it much to speak of. We'll keep it that way, I think."
"...Was it so hard?" he asked kindly, although it was obvious he was puzzled.
"No. It was much simpler than the rest, actually," she said, walking over to take Michael's hand. "It's because that's the most private time for Nyanta and I. Neither of us need to have that plastered all over."
"And thus my complaint," Michael pointed out to her.
"Well ...okay. I can understand that," she agreed. "But if we toned down the emotional part and just -"
He pursed his lips at her. "If it were played by other actors. They don't know the full story and don't have to. Then it can stay an action-adventure story."
"I'll grant you that," Purrcy let it go. Michael relaxed slightly. "I'd want to have it include some of the pirate story. It could just be The Adventures of the Eagles, or something like that, and then I could be played as the fun-loving GM who helped you out where I was allowed to - since that's what I was."
"The American movie?" Naotsugu asked looking between them.
"Yes," Michael almost growled it. "Purrcy seems to be in favor of it."
Purrcy held his arm tightly. "It's my favorite part of the whole story - mostly because I got to have fun and not be tortured."
Michael rolled his eyes. "No, you only tortured the rest of us that round."
Purrcy laughed and he scowled at her. She defended herself, "I didn't. I know for a fact you Eagles had the most fun that round, too. You just didn't like that I hogtied you at the beginning of it - and I've already told you that it was because Izanami was about to lose you all to Izanagi and she's the jealous one."
She ended firmly, "She needed you for the final battle and he had to allow it or they were going to have a fight themselves. That was the compromise between them for that battle. There would have just been all of the experiments and hope-draining punishments if it had all been Izanagi, you know."
Naotsugu gave a shudder. "Yeah, we weren't thrilled to have to fight you - that in itself drained a lot of hope from those of us who knew you - but it was a lot better than what came after." He shuddered again. "I'm not sure I want that part told, either."
"It would have to be if it's the only story left at the end, though, Naotsugu," Purrcy said gently. "But we don't have to go there now. We'll see what happens with India first. That was a crazy ride.
"We really should plan on going there for the debut showing of the show so all of you know what we're going to face as far as publicity goes." She gave her own shudder. "If we're really lucky, they'll use my Indian name instead of Purrcy and the publicity will pass by us."
Michael gripped her hand a little tighter. "We'll pray for that," he agreed. "And maybe we don't want to go if that's the case. Otherwise we'll be there for the Prince to punish us by pointing out to their press that you are that one."
"Hmm...good point," she mused. They walked out of the room and he walked her back to her office where she worked on her public and press statements for a while, while she had the movie fresh in her mind.
-:-:-:-:-
"Naotsugu."
"Hmm...yes, Shiroe?" Naotsugu had to end his sentence in his email before he could divert his attention to push the intercom button on the phone on his desk.
"Purrcy says that she's trying to hold off the repeat of her and the Eagles being gone until after the wedding. With the new guard dog they'll leave behind, I'm going to need you to step back into your role during that time. Are you willing to take care of Shinkou while they're gone?"
Naotsugu leaned back in his chair and blinked, thinking about that. "If I know how to handle her and she'll obey me, that should be fine."
"Head down to Michael when you've got an hour or so and ask him to train you to be assistant handler for when he and the rest of them have to go down to the base for check-ups. And thanks."
"Sure," Naotsugu answered back, wondering if he was really going to be okay with it. He didn't mind dogs and usually the few he'd been around had gotten along with him okay, but he'd never really thought of himself as a pet kind of person. Plus, he would be out a lot, too, so he hoped that between him and Marielle they could properly take care of Shinkou as needed.
It actually kind of sucked that they just couldn't live life and enjoy having Purrcy with them. Her ideas were spot on for where they were wanting to take things next and had added to his and Marielle's workloads both, although they didn't mind at all. That was how a company stayed in business, after all. Having to have the odd Theldesia repeats was just weird and was becoming at times annoying.
Naotsugu kept working on his tasks for the moment until he needed to stretch. As he was coming out of the final thinking phase he was suddenly hit by a rather frightening thought that was a connect-the-dots between the movie Purrcy had watched that morning and Shiroe's reason for asking him to take over guard duties.
That time - when they'd gone across the ocean - had been full of a lot of action and adventure, like Purrcy had said. The Eagles had told them snippets of the story when they'd had the fun guild gatherings and updates.
If that really was going to be repeated, it wasn't going to be just for a day once a month or so. When they left and he was going to be needed to watch the guard dog, and be the protector of the guild hall ...that was going to be big and long (in comparison). Naotsugu swallowed, then rose from his chair with purpose. This wasn't play any more. It was getting serious.
To have Purrcy gone to who knows where for who knew how long just after she'd been retrieved would make the press have an absolute field day. He could see the headlines: Missing Heroine Retrieved and Lost Again?
He supposed it could be covered up with the excuse of a honeymoon, though, so maybe that's why Purrcy was trying to hold it off until after the wedding. Naotsugu shook his head. It was highly likely Michael and her were going to get the same short honeymoon she and Nyanta had, if not shorter. He felt for them, really he did.
He tapped at the door frame to Michael's office with the knuckle of his forefinger. "Hey." He stepped in and closed the door. He couldn't find a smile, he felt so serious about it all. That made Michael pay attention. "Shiroe's asked me to come get training on handling Shinkou to be assistant handler while you can't be around. I can keep her with me and Marielle so she's got someone to be with."
"Alright," Michael said after a bit of a pause, "if you don't mind being added in on guard rounds so you get the full practice in."
Naotsugu shook his head. "That's required too, I'm sure," he answered. It was simple lessons for the next hour, if you didn't count having to memorize things.
-:-:-:-:-
Another tapping at a door was happening about that same time, although it was on a closed door that was then opened. Purrcy looked up, then sat back in her chair and smiled. "Hello, Isaac-kun! How was the convention?"
Isaac wrinkled his nose at her. "As frantically busy as always. But you know, no one's called me that in forever."
"Just your guild assistant the last time you went drinking. Have a seat." Isaac sat down properly. "Oh, please." Purrcy rolled her eyes. "Flop. I always start informal. You'll know when to get formal." She went to resting on one elbow. "Are you back then?"
Isaac slumped in his chair, taking her at her word, but not too far since she was now his superior in the company. "Yes. I'm sorry to miss the big welcoming home party."
Purrcy waved a hand. "I'm sorry for your sake since it was reunion time."
"Yeah, well, I get to see them pretty regular anyway," he sighed. "I did miss Marie, though. It's good we're into our third year to attend them. Her assistant and I managed to handle it okay. I hope we'll have her for the Tokyo Game Show, though?" he raised an eyebrow.
"I don't see why not," Purrcy said. "If you both beg me I might show up myself, although it's likely to drop sales." She winked at him.
"Well, maybe not," he mused. "That taping you did was for us to present as the highlight since it was your first public appearance, so to speak. All the gamer types were hyped just to see you were here again.
"After, the main thing we heard going around from our presentation was about the concept you've got going. Industry connections are looking forward to seeing it in visual color ...if we can get it done by then, since it's still new concept only right now." He waved a hand.
Purrcy thumbed through some papers on her desk and handed a half-inch stack to him. "Here's the prototype requirements. Let's see it in three weeks."
"Still hard on everyone as usual," he glared at her slightly but leaned up to take the papers and leaf through them. "Handwriting? Really ...oh, and Hirigana?"
"I got that far. Being able to write phonetically is the best I can do, sorry. Kanji really was right out. Be glad it's not Romanji."
He laughed at her. "I will be, then. ...Except it is where you didn't know the words."
"Yup," she said calmly.
"It's actually rather succinct and well ordered." He looked back up at her, "But then you did a lot of coding didn't you, while there?"
"Yes. That's why I said I'm uniquely perfect for this position. I've already given Marielle and Naotsugu their parts to get started for this. There should be emails for you from them with the details you can throw in for the prototype for the Tokyo Game Show.
"I want to see the first rough cut in three weeks so that the three of us can help with design before the graphics in particular go into full production. I want physical copies on my desk earlier than that for final approval before things get too far into prototype production. That's always the hardest to get agreement on, it seems to me. We're already all on the same page as far as concept goes." She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yes. Even our own have made positive comments, like on the way home." Isaac put the papers down in his lap. "You know that we picked up the Elder Tales parent company when they had to fold? I grabbed Michitaka and made him come be my assistant to clean out the place. We kept a lot of the graphics department, but made sure to get rid of the designers and the producer that put in the stuff we learned while there was just stupid."
Purrcy put the other elbow on her desk and interlaced her fingers to rest her chin on them. "So tell me what else you did there."
He sat up to rest his elbows on his knees, the stack of papers held relaxed between them. "We had several Hackers come ask if they could help that we hired and there were a few other Adventurers that we managed to snatch up who offered ideas from when they'd been there that shone above what we already had.
"They're loving it, being on the design teams, and working for what feels like a worthy cause. They've been carrying the enthusiasm for us. I wouldn't be surprised if they're already on this with lots of ideas as soon as we walk in the door for the meeting." Isaac grinned at Purrcy.
She grinned back. "I'd love to be there, but you'll have to carry it for now." She waved at her desk. "Not having been approved to be back on a computer yet has its drawbacks. I'm sure your email box will be full of notes from me once I have one."
Isaac snorted a laugh and nodded. "And I'll ignore the half that are so out in left field they aren't worth responding to. Try to keep the flood under control."
Purrcy laughed. "Put them in the file for later in case we start to run dry. Then you can wade through them and pull things out as retro concepts."
He looked at her, appraising. "That's probably going to be good advice I'd wished I'd followed."
"Then follow it. Make a 'Purrcy's Strange Ideas' folder in your mailbox, print them out, and have your secretary shove them into the file drawer. Then someone down the line can pull them out when the movie is old enough to make its comeback and you can ride those coattails, too.
"You know that's how the entertainment industry works. Wait twenty years and you can come out with the 'Twenty-Year Anniversary package, now including concepts from the original guild members'. That sort of thing."
"That makes for a lot of dust gathering in between," he sighed at her.
Purrcy shrugged a little. "Well, I know I'm a crazy inventor-type. I don't have to have every idea agreed to. It's just my job to offer possibilities and approve what you do want to move forward on so Shiroe can let that hat go for now."
She folded her arms on the desk top. "So why don't you tell me what your team is already working on. I've heard the top level from Shiroe. I need to hear it from you." Isaac sat up straighter and launched into the concepts the game development teams were currently working on, including what had been presented in the convention he'd just come back from.
At the end, Purrcy reminded Isaac she had been the game developer on Theldesia for over twenty-four years and to trust her. He sheepishly apologized and properly read all her emails as he should once they started coming.
-:-:-:-:-
"Hey KR, can I change the venue for lunch?" Michael asked, actually using his cell phone this time. "Will you come here instead?"
That had started a crazy meeting as far as KR was concerned. They'd ordered lunch from the cafeteria, and were eating it in Michael's office - not very relaxing for the man really.
KR had fallen in love with Shinkou, though. It was a little upsetting he couldn't play with her much, but he sort of understood. She was a working dog and needed to understand the difference between the two times of her day. He'd treated a lot of his Summons that way, too. Work time was work time, play time was play time.
"Wait, back up. I stopped paying attention again...sorry." It was sometimes very hard for KR to keep up with Michael - or for Michael to keep up with KR's brain that wanted to jump around. KR took a deep breath to get oxygen to his brain again so he could focus.
At the same time, Michael took a deep breath to not kill him. It had happened before on Theldesia if they had to face each other too long. KR had been keenly interested in the last conversation, though, so that hadn't been too bad. "I need you to come when Naotsugu calls you to help him."
"Oh. ...Well, why again?"
"Isaac needs to focus now that he's back so we can't call him in. Plus Naotsugu's not initiated and you are." Michael scowled at him so he paid attention. "And you aren't to initiate him either. That's Shiroe's call."
"Okay. Got it. ...That part. What am I supposed to do for him?"
"Come play security guard and be with Shinkou."
"Ah! That's what got my attention back before, was her name. I could probably do that. I don't mind being here. One of the rooms is mine if I need it."
"Good. Then I need to train you to how she's trained and you need to come get training as well in how we run things here." Michael finally stopped eating and gave a very stern glare. "And you'll hold to strict protocol and not do strange things."
He even leaned forward now on the desk. "And KR - this 'dog' is one of Purrcy's constructs. If you do do something strange, I'll let her deal with you."
Michael leaned back and went back to very dangerous casual. KR couldn't move. As the food went up to Michael's mouth, the words were, "You have to be adult from this point on or you'll disappear. If Shinkou bites your leg, I won't help you, and will turn you in as a thief to the police."
KR swallowed. "Why, Michael?"
"Because hell's coming." The eyes looked up into his. "You remember why we had to have Naotsugu, Isaac, and the guard dog named Crusty, right?"
KR swallowed, blinked, then gave a shudder. In a small voice he said, "I was so glad to have missed that. Even the movie was plenty enough to tell me I was much happier on the train, for all that we had to go through the hell of the rest of Eured. You - you're not going to be gone for terrible stuff again, are you?"
Michael didn't answer for a long time and KR almost whined his internal distress. "We'll be counting on you and Naotsugu," Michael finally answered quietly. "Tetoro's in the know and will pull his weight as well, the same as Akatsuki, but we need the bishop. That's you.
"Keep them safe from magic and from press. No press is to enter the building at all once you're on duty. I've already trained Shinkou to chase them off. Let her, but she should be called back from actually attacking them unless they really are asking for it with blatant illegal activities that we can prove from the cameras."
KR nodded. "Okay." His throat was very dry and his food forgotten. He hadn't been given serious responsibilities like this almost even on Theldesia. Almost. His information gathering early on had been, at least to Indicus and occasionally to Shiroe and Nakalnad. He'd almost managed to get serious for Kanami, too, on the bad days that everyone had to work hard to survive.
"You can play with Shinkou. I'll have you shadow Gareth so you get filed under the same label he's under. He's our companion in the way you should be for her. Let me know when you've got a day free - preferably within a week. Play time is in the mid afternoon when most things don't happen." KR ran through his schedule in his mind and gave the days off he had. Michael picked the soonest one. KR wasn't surprised.
"I'll have Gareth teach you all the commands as well. We'll want you here for at least one of each night shift as well, to partner up and learn the beat and protocol there as well." Michael suddenly looked up, eyes wider. "Oh, and I forgot, Rieze is on the team, too. I'll see if she'll come as the third shift or if one or the other of you can't fill in."
KR slumped. "If she's on board, then I'll feel better. With the three of us we can manage."
"Don't short Akatsuki. She's the shadow like you're the blind spot attack."
KR was properly scolded. "Are you going to train her as well?"
Michael paused, then gave a brief nod. "We may as well. We don't know what's going to show up here - other than possibly bad press, but here is in the middle of the local magic groups and we've only had contact with one of them so far." He pursed his lips. "I think we may have to have an all-hands magic guild meeting before we go, too." He nodded and it looked like he'd filed that away as a to-do.
Michael put down his now-empty dish. "Before we begin the initial training I want to do with you and Shinkou, there is one other thing." KR fidgeted a little and took a breath for patience.
"Shinkou has now hunted both your brother and his roommate. They've gotten a bad start with her, but we don't really want her friendly with residents, just an understanding that they're okay to pass. She's where she needs to be at, but they aren't. Get them calmed down without changing her. Got it?"
"Yessir," KR wasn't sure he really did, but he didn't want bad things between those two and the dog if he was going to be the dog's caretaker. "I'll do what I can."
"Thank you. While I'll teach you the basic commands, there is one other new thing you can help me with. I want to train her to attack yokai who either wander in or who are sent in for evil purposes. We've already had a few. I'm sure you can already call them up."
"Well ...I can, the little ones, but I've got a few favorites." KR didn't want those to be attacked.
"Of course you do. We'll start by training her to accept those, then we'll teach her the rest don't belong. Since she's Purrcy's I'm assuming she can already find and attack them, she just needs to be taught properly what to do about them."
"Okay," KR relaxed just a little and picked his own food back up to finish it quickly. That kind of work was fun. He was willing to spend the rest of his lunch doing that. He'd try not to think of the why very much for a while.
-:-:-:-:-
The four apprentices were in training again. Each had been given their assignments. Stiletto was glad he'd learned proper focus strategies now. Purrcy had pushed that, testing it and reinforcing it the afternoon before. Today it was new stuff. He about had it down. "Stil."
"Yes, Ma'am?" Stiletto replied very respectfully. Each one of them had a different aspect watching over them, although he might be the only one of them to know that right now. He wasn't sure.
"Can you see the time realm yet?"
"No. Or rather, it's there but always linear."
"Okay, but we know that a lot of the lore holds true. Prophets and others can get visions of the future." Stiletto raised an eyebrow. "You might not be able to walk it, per se, but I'm betting you can see into it.
"I'd like to work that just a bit to test it. I don't know that anyone should be seeing it all, since I suspect it's a lot like being in the non-linear Gate of Time with so many threads expanding as you see farther and farther out through time." That made sense.
"So, go find it and just look at it for a bit. Let it get to where it's flowing through you and around you and you're comfortable. I'll anchor you here in the present, just in case you can drift in it. That would be bad at this point." She let him be until he was in that zone.
"Okay, now one simple request or prayer or spell, whatever you think might be most effective - and if you want pick a different question for each one, they may have different effects.
"Ask that realm the question: 'When will I next see Shiroe?' If you're going to test the various methods, pick someone different for each one that's an easy pass here in the building. Michael, Akatsuki, someone like that."
Stiletto nodded that he'd understood and spent some time working those three samples up, waiting for the pressure to let up before letting each question go completely into the time realm. Then he just waited for an answer to them.
The request brought back a cloudy answer. Just a face that looked like it was talking and then it was gone. That felt like the kind of thing that would bring back the feeling of deja vu at the time of crossing paths. It had the fastest answer, too. Low data, low bandwidth, low return time.
The spell was next, although it felt somewhat long and like it was costing a lot. He got a clear picture and a few spoken words. It felt like the time length of the scene was related to his spell level (low, obviously). By the time Purrcy came looking for him again, to get his results, he still hadn't gotten anything back from the prayer. He told her the results of the other two.
Purrcy pondered for a bit on the third type. "Well ...several of the prophets in scripture asked for an overnight before they answered. I wonder if that was for long lag-time or because dreaming was essential? A lot of visions went to kings and the like for future stuff as dreams.
"Of course a lot of those are symbolic rather than plain. The plain ones were usually sudden openings of their understanding and tons of information flooded in very clearly. The voice of the Spirit is different, I think, so that's something else.
"...Once we're done here, go research what all of the various religions and tales say about those kinds of visions. Anything you can add in will help you know how to approach it. I think for now you could sit in meditation for a while, keeping yourself open and you'll get an answer eventually on the prayer option."
That was the order to follow right now, so Stiletto settled back into the meditative state he'd already been in at that realm and waited longer. He was also formulating ideas and finding questions about that realm of Earth at the same time. He couldn't help that. His brain had never been one to sit still and think of nothing or only one topic. He'd learned to compartmentalize all the internal conversations into their own spaces inside a long time ago.
-:-:-:-:-
"Bowie, you've become as dangerous as Stiletto finally. You learned to 'know' anyone on Theldesia. Here you are learning how to make anyone 'forget'. While that's useful for getting us out of situations we don't want to be in, that's very dangerous for those of us who need to not be compromised by having you around."
A spell settled over Bowie and he tensed against it. He hated Purrcy restricting him, really he did, even if she was right. "It's perhaps even more dangerous for you, since then you'll become forgotten by everyone and then you'll be very lonely. That's the path of the sociopath. I'm not willing to lose you that far away from me, nor you from yourself." He felt the spell lock down how far he could take that magic and with whom.
Bowie scowled, but down in that secret inner part of himself, the little boy was feeling very relieved. He didn't really want to be a Forgotten. That was one of the saddest parts of being a veteran, actually.
They all worked so hard, no one knew what they did, and then so few could keep up with what they'd done, been, and were once they were out of the military. The rare thanks they did get was appreciated, but still. Only other military could understand and remind you what you were and how important that was to you because it had been everything about you for the full time you'd been in service.
Bowie bowed his head to Purrcy obediently without openly complaining. There were other things he could learn within his skill that she'd left room for, and there were other things he could learn that were different. If he'd already received orders to learn the forgetting part, he would only be able to report exactly what had happened and the limits that had been placed on him. The Navy already understood that he wouldn't be in control for nearly any of this.
Bowie was the passive spy because they knew there was no other way to get any information from Purrcy at all. The information sponge. That was him. Eventually he would be wrung out and that information given back to those who'd asked for it.
-:-:-:-:-
Tetorō had been super surprised to learn how to do Purrcy's cheat the previous day. She was only letting them work the micro layer for an hour of real-time, to keep it all healthy, but that was still plenty. She'd made sure his shields were the best they could be, of course. That was always first. They'd all had to pass that test before being allowed to move on.
Then it had been exercises so they could properly create and cast. He'd been surprised to learn it was advanced magic on Earth being done at lower levels. That had stoked his pride in Purrcy and their guild. (And that in turn had helped him have more patience with the lessons at all.)
Today she was working with him on what he wanted to work on - what magic was necessary to find the doorway back. She'd asked him several questions and based on the answers, the first thing the two of them had done separately from the rest, was for him to be made a deacon - again.
That had not been his favorite at all, but he could understand once it had been done. All of his memories of his Earth use of magic before had returned to him. Then he'd understood why it seemed like he was higher level than level zero or one. It was because he had been, so was now.
Tetorō was quite relieved to have back his memories of the research until then. That meant he didn't have to repeat it all. He was already so close to opening the door it wasn't funny. That meant he had to sit and stew in anger for ten minutes, but it did answer how Purrcy had gotten back to Earth.
Once he got over that part, his mind bit into it all again and he was lost in the thinking and internal study again. Working on both of his requirements was good as far as he was concerned.
Purrcy kept interfering though, adding in comments when he reached certain points in his thinking. He finally sighed in irritation and she showed up again in the realm he was sitting in. (Probably the mind realm or something.) "Fine, I'll sit with you visibly then," she sat cross-legged in front of him.
Purrcy continued, "The point is that you have to learn to communicate and work with someone else. It's an important skill to have and reminds you that you, one: don't have to do it all by yourself, and two: that you don't have the corner market on thought, wisdom, and understanding. Others have valid things to say and useful insights, too."
Thus began the next interpersonal and relationship lesson as well. ...Which started the next lesson in patience and tamping down irritation again. You'd think he'd already had so much practice with that one he could do it in his sleep. (Of course that would be cheating since when you slept you didn't have to face anyone at all.)
-:-:-:-:-
Gareth was just plugging along in his lessons as if they were the lessons from last time on Theldesia. Purrcy watched his meter and his center of magic so he didn't get hurt. He focused on feeling the current spell inside and running through it as many times as it took to get it smoothly learned.
For every spell he finally got smoothly, he was assigned to pick another one to work on. Mostly he was working on the healing spells since they needed to be up as high as possible as soon as possible. It wasn't fantastic progress but it was consistent and that was pretty good.
He'd gotten all the shields the day before, and the base level healing and purification spells. Today it was working them all up in levels. Grinding again. At least Purrcy didn't complain if he got bored and needed to let it out by sending something at her that he'd been building up underneath for a while.
Gareth wanted to learn attacks too, but was irritated that she was using that method to train him without training him. He still did it anyway. That was one of the patterns of the Eagles vs. Purrcy, too. It entertained them both.
