January 1, 2019
Andy opened her eyes, expecting to find herself squeezed between Mash and Astolfo, but instead, she found herself in a strange room she had never seen before. And she could hear a song, an aria dedicated to the soul.
It looked like the interior of an old-school train.
And then a voice spoke, and she turned her head forward and before her sat a man with a very long nose.
"Hello and welcome to the Velvet Room; this place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. My name is Igor, and I am pleased to finally meet you, Survivor," The man's bloodshot eyes stared at her.
"Well, took you long enough."
"My apologies, but the Incineration of Human History prevented me from making contact with you, it was sheer luck that the one known as Leonardo Da Vinci was capable of creating an Evoker allowing you to manifest your Persona and make contact with the Crawling Chaos," Igor spoke.
"With Leo, it would probably be 'sheer genius,' but that's fine; I'm just being sassy because I'm confused," Andy said as she looked around. Outside the windows was an oddly generic, seemingly infinite hilly landscape. The train itself was an old fashioned steam train, like the first class of the wild west by the looks of it. "So, uh, nice to meet you, Igor."
"It is nice to meet you as well, Andy," The man's light and raspy voice answered.
"Yeah, I am happy to finally meet you as well, Andy," A new voice spoke from behind Igor.
Only now did Andy notice the grey-haired child wearing a white raincoat with grey stars and crescent moon patterns on it. "And who are you, little friend?" She asked, immediately more at ease.
"I am Jose, I am an attendant of the Velvet Room, and one that Rules over Power," Jose introduced himself, giving a curt nod.
"Oooh, power? Nice." Andy said. "So, uh, what actually is going on right now, Igor Sir? I'm… a bit confused."
"You are here to be rewarded for your efforts," Igor said in response.
"Neat," Andy said, very much so in a sort of daze, since (real or not) this was obviously a dream, and dreams meant good things for her persona-wise. Plus, she could distinctly remember that nose from Persona 4, so she could somewhat guess what was going on. "What is it?"
"I have two gifts for you should you choose to accept them; one is to restore the power of the Wildcard to its original purpose, and allow you to wield multiple Personas generated from your bonds, should you wish to accept the Contract with us. The second is to change the purpose of your Magic Circuits gifted to you by Lord Philemon, to suit whatever purpose you desire. Though this can only be done once now that Goetia has been defeated and the Foundation of Magecraft is in flux. Your psychic power will remain, though your magecraft will sadly be much more limited towards the subject you desire," Igor explained.
Andy was immediately incredibly intrigued by both propositions, the latter more so than the former. "And, to be clear, what do you mean by 'subject I desire'? Because I want the everything."
"Do you wish to specialize in fire, lightning, wind, healing, creation of limited items, Gemcraft," Igor said. "That sort of thing, though should you choose a field, you will be hard limited to that area."
"...Can I pick two?" Andy asked, as always pushing her limits. "I remember something about Wildcards having two. It's fine if not, I'm just checking."
"The power of the Wildcard is related to the psyche, bonds, and Personas; it has no effect on your Magecraft abilities, though if you choose to restore the power of the Wildcard to its original form. Your ability as a Master would diminish a bit, though not by much," Igor explained.
"Oh, okay, I was kind of conflating the magic and the psyche thing." Andy accepted easily. "To be clear, though, for the specialty thing, could I, in theory, pick something I currently have no idea how to do?"
"Yes, though the learning curve would be harsh, the things I said we're just examples," The long-nosed man explained.
"Hmm… can I see that contract before I make any decisions?" Andy asked, her inner power-gaming munchkin clashing with her want to help people (and the former was winning).
"It is quite a simple one, you just have to take responsibility for your actions, that is all it entails, you could be the greatest villain or hero, and we would support you, you just have to take responsibility for your actions. For this Velvet Room is a place meant to nurture the human mind," Igor explained. "And it reflects the heart of the one that wishes to use it," Igor said as he moved his hand around, highlighting the train compartment they were in.
"So...I have an old soul that keeps chugging along no matter what?" Andy said, interpreting the train around them.
"If that is how you see it," Igor said back.
"Yeah, the human heart has a lot of hidden meanings and secrets, even I don't know all of them," Jose said.
"Okay, so… I'm going to have to pick 'creation,' I suppose," Andy said after a moment of thinking. "And, well, obviously I accept, how could I not, assuming those are the only terms and conditions."
"They are, and so you choose the role of the artificer, certainly fits you," Igor said as he took out a piece of paper and a pen. "Just sign here."
The only words that were on it were.
I accept that my actions have consequences.
And below that was the line where one's signature would go.
Andy took the pen, and was about to sign, before having a momentary doubt. "Uh, to be clear, I'll be able to change out my Persona after this, right? Based on the...Social Links, I think they're called, that I've made?"
"Yes, those options will be available the next time you come here," Was Igor's answer.
"Okay," Andy said, before signing her name on the dotted line. "And, done... What now?"
"Before we commence the Alteration of the Soul, I would like to know if you believe in fortune reading?" Igor asked as before them a deck of what Andy presumed to be Tarot Cards appeared.
"Even if you asked me before I found out magic was real, I would have said yes," Andy said, very intrigued. "What kind of reading are we doing?"
"To see if the Arcana is the means to which your future is revealed," Igor said as he placed several cards on the table. "The first card, Death, a loss has recently occurred, but that means something can now be gained. A rebirth is coming soon. The Lovers, has both very obvious and hidden meanings, though this time it is just the obvious, your relationship with the one that symbolizes… Strength…" Igor said as he turned over the next card. "The fourth is the Devil, you will be up against great vices and evils, be sure to not submit, for the fifth is the Moon in reverse, something that is obvious will become hidden. Though something tells me that the Moon is quite literal. The sixth, The Fortune, also in reverse. Seventh is the Chariot; you will be dragged along on quite the adventure by one who shall learn great lessons. The eighth and ninth is The Judgment and Justice, two cards that are closely related to one another, and the tenth is the Tower; ruin awaits if you are not careful, though it seems to have fallen to the side, so it will not come from where you expect it," Igor said as he finished his reading.
"...I've never seen a reading with this many cards." Andy said, completely lost at how to interpret this overall other than 'buckle up, the ride's not over yet.'
"My readings are done quite differently, and my... what an interesting year you have before you," Igor said with a creepy smile on his face, his eyes looking even more bloodshot.
"O-kay," Andy said, voice cracking. "Hey, Jose, what do you do here, bud? And are you here against your will?"
"I am here to assist you in your journey, I manage your Personas in the compendium," Jose said as he pulled out a book that was about the same size as him. And he opened it up showing two pages with the one of the left having a picture of Ahriman while the other had a figure that looked similar to Geronimo, though there were notable differences in facial structure and attire, but Andy could tell that was Geronimo, but it was not Goyaale.
"Oh," Andy said, confused at the other page. "Uh, could...could I change to one with healing before I go, or is that for next time?"
"Next time, the Wildcard has to adjust before your Sea of Souls can accommodate another Persona," Igor said.
"Okay," Andy said, accepting all of this because what else was she supposed to do in this situation exactly? Say no to the crazy-eyed fellow apparently in charge of her soul?
"Glad to know you understand, now Jose. You can start the process and commence the Alteration of the Soul," Igor said.
"Yes, Sir," Jose said as out of his pocket, he took out a giant toy mallet.
"Wait, wh-"
And Jose swung it at Andy's head and bonked her.
Xxx
And Andy immediately found herself in another location that was not the Velvet Room or her own room for that matter.
"Okay, what now?" Andy asked, rubbing her head where she'd been whacked with the mallet as she looked around.
She was in a...bamboo forest?
"Panda?" She said, thoughts not computing properly at all right now and just doing word association instead.
"Urghh… even panda meat sounds good right now to me," A female voice said in response to Andy's question.
"Uh...hello?" Andy said, looking down at the person(?) laying face down on the ground, wearing a rather fancy blue and red kimono. "Can I… help you?"
"FOOOD!" She shouted as she turned around.
"Uh…" Andy said, patting down her pockets for any snacks. "Do you care if it's human? Or human-demon hybrid, I suppose?"
"Urgh!" She said in disgust as she sat up. "I am not a cannibal, and I've tasted demon flesh before, and it's just so leathery… Hello there?"
"General Kenobi!" Andy couldn't help but say. "Wait, no, that's not right, I only wield one sword; we'd need someone who wields four to be the one saying that…" She mused.
"You are a bold one," She said back with a smile. "You've seen that movie as well? Man, I love it when I wander into modern worlds."
"Wander…?" Andy repeated, before her face lit up. "Oh my god, you're a slider, aren't you?" She asked excitedly.
"Yeah, you could call me that; yeah, I slide around to various Timelines, I never stick around very much in each place. Well, now for introduction, I am the wandering swordswoman that is trying to reach Zero, Miyamoto Musashi," Musashi introduced herself. "Who are you buff looking girl?"
"I am Andy Murphy, Head Master of Chaldea...though I don't think that means much anymore, now that we've stopped the incineration," Andy said, holding out a hand to her-the sturdier artificial arm Gil gave her, reminding Andy she really needed to fix her body after the mess that was yesterday. "It's nice to meet you."
"Well… I don't know what any of that means, but it sounds and looks like you've had a rough time," Musashi said as she took the hand.
"Yeah!" Andy said with forced cheer as she helped the swordswoman up. "Yeah, I really have! It literally just stopped, and I'm certain the only reason I'm not screaming in agony right now is because I'm pretty sure this is a dream, at least for me."
"Ah, you can project your mind and stuff when you sleep? That is so cool," Musashi said.
"...You know I never actually stopped to think about it; yeah, it is pretty cool." Andy agreed. "Normally, it's more of an inconvenience because I have literally no control over it."
"Me too, I don't know when I will slide to a new place, sometimes I can stay in the same place for months, or only a few hours, though sometimes it is helpful as it helps me run away from scary old men," Musashi said.
Andy put a sympathetic hand -the mishmash rainbow-coloured one she'd haphazardly made during the final fight- on her shoulder. "I understand completely." She said with a nod.
"Finally, someone that does, so got any idea where we are now?" Musashi asked.
"Nope!' Andy said. "I mean, I'd assume somewhere in Asia cause the bamboo, but beyond that, I have no clue."
"Ah...Well, let's try and find some civilization," Musashi said.
"Yeah, that seems like a good idea. One moment." Andy said, sizing up the skyline. "I'll get us a good view real quick."
"How? Can you fly?" She asked.
"No," Andy said as she crouched. "Jump good." Like a spring, she uncoiled and leaped straight up into the air, above the bamboo forest and looking around, seeing a modern city rather close by, implying this was probably an artificial thing, before she fell down and stuck the landing. "Alright, there's a city over that way. Looks pretty modern, but I haven't seen anything more recent than 1999 in a while, so it's… it's got electricity, at least. And there's a train station over that way." She said, pointing in the correct directions as she spoke.
"...Awesome, now let's go and mug people and get food," Musashi said.
"Wh-no!" Andy immediately denied. "We are not mugging people! I'm fine with maybe stealing, but not mugging."
"Well, that is how I usually get money, but let's just bust open a vending machine or something like that; maybe there is a place with a challenge that if you complete it, you don't have to pay… I love those places," Musashi said.
"Okay, I'm willing to work with you here cause obviously I'm connected to you right now by virtue of me being where you landed, coincidences do not happen around me, but I'm a kleptomaniac, emphasis on 'klepto' not on 'maniac,' I do not condone randomly assaulting people for money." Andy said, and then paused. "...Unless they attack us first."
"Same here, and I mostly beat up criminals," Musashi said in response. "So let's go. And try to fix yourself up a bit? Like when I come to modern places, I just say I am a cosplayer, and they leave me alone," Musashi said.
"Sorry, I was sleeping after the literal biggest fight of my life. I punched a god." Andy said, flexing her stuffy-hand at her. "I kinda blew off my remaining arms in the fight. Just… ugh, oh I'm gonna have to discorporate my arm to get something even halfway decent to wear…" She said as she realized she was still wearing her pajamas, a tank top, and shorts, the former of which did not hide the fact her arms were not natural.
"Do wha?" Musashi asked.
Before she could continue, Andy's right arm completely discorporating into a number of writhing, crawling threads of various colors that then crawled up her body and turned her tank top into a long-sleeved shirt, the right sleeve tied off at the shoulder for obvious reasons, and forming a glove over her left hand. "There, that should do it."
"Man, you mages are crazy," Musashi simply said.
"Spellcaster, not a mage." Andy corrected. "Biiiig difference in mindset. I don't like hurting people, for example. Plus, no lineage."
"Ah, okay, so similar to like… Abe?" She asked. "Never met the guy, but it sounds similar to his deal."
"Uhh, assuming you're talking about Abe no Seimei….I have no idea, beyond knowing he's one of the greatest mystics of Japan, so I honestly have no clue." Andy said with a shrug. "...We gonna go rob a convenience store or whatever now?"
"Let's check the restaurant first before we go on a crime spree," Musashi said. "So which way again?"
"Thisaway," Andy said as she began walking in said direction. "Not that far off, from the looks of it. This is some kind of reserve or something, I'd guess."
Xxx
And it had only taken them about ten minutes or so to get into the town, with their entrance being a few meters away from the train station/platform.
And on the station, Andy got the name of the location they were at.
The sign said Yasoinaba Station.
"Damn, I don't know this place," Andy said, having been hoping for somewhere she at least vaguely knew. "You ever been to a 'Yasoinaba' before?"
"Nope," Musashi responded.
"Great!" Andy said with forced cheer again as she looked for a vending machine. "You see anything good? I've never been to Japan when it wasn't on fire."
"Like I said, let's see if a restaurant got a special first, store robbing later," Musashi said. "Hmm… I think if we follow that road, we're going to head into the center of town."
"Oh yeah, probably, but like, I don't have shoes right now," Andy said. "I really don't like walking barefoot outside like this."
"Can't you give yourself shoes?" She asked.
"Have you ever worn cloth shoes?" Andy asked back. "Also, I only have so much of my familiars to work with right now, I don't actually...wait a minute…" Andy said, eyes literally sparking as she had an idea.
"When I was younger… And yeah, you are right, they are the worst," Musashi responded. "What are you doing?"
"Testing something," Andy said as she carved some Runes into a nearby tree with her finger. "Y'see, for the longest time, I actually haven't been able to use Magecraft due to pissing off the guy who invented it. But now that that obstacle is gone…" She said as she completed the rather basic array.
"Man, that sucks, that would be like if somebody cut off my hands, and I wouldn't be able to use my swords," Musashi said.
"I actually literally cut off my own arm, and the other three got exploded. Buuut..." Andy said nonchalantly that before the Runic array began to glow and a pair of simple wooden sandals formed out of the tree's wood, a massive manic grin spread across Andy's face. "YES! YES YES YES YES YESYESYESYESYESYES YESSSSS!" She said, taking Musashi's hand and twirling her around excitedly like a demented ballet dancer. "I CAN DO MAGIC AGAIN!"
"Good for you, Andy," Musashi said. "Now, let's get some grub… Wait? What? What do you mean you cut it off, and three got exploded?"
"Well, left arm got infected a bit ago," Andy said as she put the sandals on, struggling a bit with only having one hand. "Had to chop it off to prevent it from spreading. The other three got exploded yesterday -god, it doesn't even feel real- when I punched the physical manifestation of the foundation of magecraft. Repeatedly. To be clear though, they were kind of intended to explode, as a means of delivering megadeath...oh I'm so stupid I should have named that attack Megadeth, what is wrong with me…" She said as she finished and stood up.
"From that statement? A lot… Says the person who regularly fights and kills people…" Musashi said as she got a bit introspective.
"Oh yeah, I am going to need so much therapy after this." Andy agreed. "You're welcome to join, assuming you stick with me for a bit."
"Nah, again, let's get some food, find a restaurant with free food," Musashi said.
"Yeah, if we're in Japan… I've always wanted to try udon…" Andy mused as they began to walk.
And they walked down the street, getting a few looks from the people that were out, but they didn't bother interacting with them. The walked by a few places of interest, a blacksmith, a tofu shop, a wine shop, a grill, but most importantly, a Chinese Diner by the name of Aiya, that currently had something called the Rainyday Mega Beef Bowl Challenge going right now, which made sense as Andy could see fresh puddles on the road.
"Never had a beef bowl before. One of those things I've only seen in anime." Andy noted as they waited for their meal. Really, something seemed familiar about this challenge, but she couldn't place what.
"I think I tried it once, but I can't remember where," Musashi said as she looked around the place and she looked at the other customers that were staring at them. "Ah, it is almost six, some great time for dinner."
"I'm more of a 7, 7:30 kinda gal for dinner, but I also haven't eaten anything in a while, so any time is a great time in my mind." Andy agreed.
"So, now that you beat the bad guy, what are you planning on doing now?" Musashi asked.
"Well, among other things, in no particular order...therapy, marrying my fiances, raising my kids, making a new body or otherwise fixing this one, getting laid, figuring out how to prevent the Association from gutting us all like fish, maybe play some video games, you know pretty standard stuff," Andy said completely sincerely.
"...I am just going to nod my head and look like I got half of that stuff," Musashi said.
"That's fair; my life stopped making sense the second I met the Crawling Chaos," Andy said with a shrug. "So, how about you, you got any plans?"
"My plan is the same one it has been for the last few years of my life, to reach Zero, and slash the Void," She said.
"Aww, neat, so you're probably gonna fight my friend「」," Andy said. "Careful; she's a swordswoman too."
"Wha?" Musashi asked.
"Wha Wha?"
"What did you just say? It sounded like you said something, but there was nothing there," Musashi said.
"What, 「」?" Andy repeated. "Does that actually sound weird? You're the only other person to react to that; I thought it was just normal for this reality."
"Yes, it does, how do you? Do that with your mouth?" Musashi asked.
For a moment, Andy basked in being on the other end of that line and the joy it brought her gremlin heart. "Practice. And also meeting the physical embodiment of the Root. But probably mostly the practice." She joked.
"Huh?" That was all Musashi said to that.
"Here is your Mega Beef Bowl; you have forty minutes to complete it; if you don't, you will have to pay for it," The waitress said as she placed down the two bowls in front of them.
"Forty minutes?" Andy repeated, her inner carnivore already salivating as she stared squarely at the massive bowl of meat and noodles and meat and meat and meat.
"That is a lot of meat," Musashi drooled at the sight of the steamy bowl of beef, noodles, sauce, and a bit of vegetable, according to the menu.
"Yes, and even if that… No one has finished this portal to the meat dimension," The Waitress said.
Andy shared a look with Musashi, before they picked up their chosen utensils in sync, Andy picking up a fork in her left hand and Musashi with a set of chopsticks in both hands, before they both nodded, and with a call of "Itadakimasu!" they began their conquest of the 'meat dimension' and the race to the bottom of the bowl.
And into the ten-minute mark, they were about halfway done. Now they had gathered a tiny crowd that watched with fascinated horror as the two of them just consumed the meat with the waitress' mouth hanging open. Even the chef, who Andy presumed to be Aiya, had even taken a break to watch, as they actually managed to consume it.
And then it reached the nineteen-minute mark; Musashi let out a satisfied sigh as she lifted up her bowl victoriously. "Can I have seconds?"
And at that, everyone fell to the ground in shock.
And a few seconds later, Andy finished. "...okay, so, you know, only won because I'm quite literally handicapped at the moment, right?" Andy said, equally satisfied but a bit disappointed at losing, before turning to the chef. "I'll second that call for seconds there, chef, best meal I've had in years!"
"...I guess you deserve it, but first, the very first victory photo," The man said with a tone of disbelief as he went into the back room.
"Hey Aika, what is going on in here? Why are you all on the floor?" Asked a female voice, that sounded familiar to her ears.
"Maybe they are doing a skit for a youtube video?" Another familiar voice asked.
Andy looked over at the source of the voice, and immediately every train of thought, she had crashed simultaneously.
Because standing there was a brown-haired girl with a distinctive green track jacket, joined by a dark-haired girl in red.
The specific combo, the familiar voice, and the beef bowl all clicked in Andy's head simultaneously.
Oh right. Persona. She thought as she refocused on the still-hungry looking Musashi, then at the waitress, and then decided to be a troll. "Hey, sorry to bother you, waitress, could I get a water? Eating that entire beef bowl one-handed made me thirsty."
"O-of, of course," The Waitress, now named Aika, said as she stood up and went over to the fridge in the back.
"One for me too," Musashi said.
"Wait… You completed the Mega Beef Bowl?" Chie asked the two of them in disbelief.
"What, like it's hard?" Andy asked nonchalantly. "We're actually waiting on seconds, too."
At that, Chie dropped to her knees. "Please teach me your meat-eating ways!"
"Chie, you can't just ask strangers about that, though I have to ask how you did that? I've never heard of anyone being able to eat all of that in the time limit?" Yukiko asked.
"Well, first, you need to lose a limb," Andy said, pointing to her tied sleeve. "Appetite goes way up when that happens, trust me."
At that, their faces went a bit green. "Oh my god, what happened to you? Did you get into a fight with the Yakuza or something like that?" Chie asked.
Andy shook her head. "Nah, I stuck my arm in a tv once, and it bit my arm off." She joked, to test their reactions.
And their faces went pale and shocked.
"Teddie, what the fuck," Andy heard Chie whisper.
"Bwahahaha," Yukiko laughed. "Oh, that is a funny joke."
"I thought you blew it off?" Musashi asked.
"Well…" Andy said, her lie now caught. "I did have a bit of a run-in with a shadow of a man." She said, sending a look to Musashi that she hoped said, 'please stop.' "He died fighting his true self, in a way."
At that, Chie and Yukiko's faces went totally pale.
And at that, Musashi nodded her head, seemingly getting what she was trying to do.
"Here is your water," Aika said.
"Thank you," Andy said, gratefully taking the glass.
"Don't say that stuff out loud, dude," Chie hissed as she got a bit closer to Andy. "That is supposed to be secret stuff."
"I've found the camera!" Came the voice of Aiya.
"Great! We get the pictures taken, and then we can get seconds, right?" Andy asked with a grin that she was certain spelled doom for the restaurant's finances.
"S-sure," The man said as he took out the camera and had Andy and Musashi pose with the empty bowls.
After he went back to the kitchen, tears in his eyes, Andy patted the seat next to her at the booth. "Have a seat; you two obviously know a bit about the weird stuff going on around here, right? Always good to find compatriots in weirdness."
"Ah, yeah, sure thing," Chie said as she and Yukiko took a seat with Chie sitting beside Musashi, and Yukiko next to Andy. Though Chie's eyes went a bit wide as she noticed Musashi's swords.
"Are those things real?" Chie asked.
"They sure are, can't be a swordswoman with fake swords," Musashi said proudly in a way that made her large breasts jiggle, drawing the eyes of all three teenagers present.
"Funnily enough, I know a swordsman who relies entirely on fake swords," Andy said. "But anyone, that's for later. Hello, I'm Andy Murphy; it's a pleasure to meet two fellow explorers of the weird."
"Oh, so you are a foreigner then?" Yukiko asked as she took her hand. "Well, my name is Yukiko, and this here is my best friend, Chie."
"Yeah, best friends, nothing more than that," Chie added though there was a distinct blush on her face.
Andy could easily guess that they wanted to keep their relationship a secret, if there was something. School-aged teens, you could never be sure.
"And my name is Miyamoto Musashi," She said, introducing herself.
"No relation to that Miyamoto Musashi." Andy quickly added on.
"We didn't think that naming coincidences happen, even if it is strange for a girl to have that kind of name, unless... How is it written in Kanji?" Yukiko asked.
"Like this," Musashi said as she drew on the table with her fingers.
"Ah, that, makes a lot more sense," Yukiko said.
"So what are you two doing in Inaba, and how do you know about that World?" Chie asked. "Are you with those Shadow Operative guys?"
"Shadow, what-now?" Andy asked, genuinely not remembering what that was. "I don't think I've ever heard that name before in my life."
"So you're not with Kirijo?" Chie asked.
"Who?"
"Huh," Was all Chie said to that. "So if you're not with them? How do you know about our stuff?"
"What stuff?" Andy asked. "I just had a weird experience with a tv and stuff, are you guys saying you know more about that? And where I could maybe find whatever bit off my arm?"
"Yeah, some guy tried to well 'kill' me using it," Yukiko said. "And a bunch of other people, and a lot of other weird stuff like Fog Gods. Though it should have returned to normal now."
"Well, if you lost your arm inside of the TV World, maybe we could get Teddie to sniff it out for you," Chie muttered.
Andy suddenly felt a little bad for using such underhanded (ha!) tactics here, but she had to do what she had to do. "Whose Teddie? Is he foreign, too?"
"...Kinda… He is a friend of ours that can track stuff in the TV World," Chie said.
"Oh, neat," Andy said. Whatever she was about to say next was cut off as the waitress returned with their second servings of Mega Beef Bowl, causing Chie and Yukiko to boggle. "Do you mind if we wait to continue till after we're done? Can't exactly talk while I'm eating; that would be rude. And also, we're on a time limit."
"Sure…" They said as they got their own food served, but it was not the challenge, just a normal bowl of ramen.
This time, the two displaced women finished at the same time. "Look at that, if we go for thirds, I bet I'll win." Andy taunted, despite actually feeling quite full. Something about this whole situation just made her want to shit-talk.
"Nah… I'm filled; this is actually very heavy," Musashi said as she held up the bowl. "If I had gone one more day without food, I could have eaten two more at least."
Which caused Chie's eyes to pop out a bit.
"How!" Yukiko asked in genuine wonder as they had just finished their ramen at the same time.
"...I don't even think all my kids together could eat that much in one sitting…" Andy muttered in genuine terror at the black hole that was Musashi.
"What?" Yukiko and Chie asked at the same time. "You look barely older than us?"
"I'm 47," Andy said in a bald-faced lie.
"That is a lie," Yukiko simply said.
And Musashi was chuckling.
"Kidding, kidding, I'm 19," Andy said, raising her hand in surrender. "My kids are all adopted."
"Why would you do that?" Chie asked.
"That sounds like something out of a story," Yukiko commented.
"I have led a very strange life," Andy said, before pulling the glove off her hand with her teeth, flexing the mechanical hand underneath. "Very strange."
"Holy...That is awesome…" Chie said in wonder as she looked at the hand.
"Wow, that looks like that scene from that one robot movie, just without the gory stuff, and no beefy Arnold," Yukiko whispered.
"Yeah," Andy said as she held the glove, and it proceeded to unwind and then reform into a glove around her hand. "I've still got a few tricks up my...sleeve." She said with a massive grin.
"How did you do that?" Chie asked as she stared.
"It almost looked like magic," Yukiko said in wonder.
"I'm a bit of a magician," Andy said, absolutely giddy at getting to show off her meager talents to people who were not super-talented mega-powerful demigod ghosts who defined magic. "So, how about you two? You got any special tricks?"
"Yeah, Yukiko is good at unintentionally roasting people, and I know kung fu, wata," Chie said as she swung her hand out.
"Ah, nice," Andy said. "Hey, you girls know a place we could stay? I'm kinda homeless at the moment."
"Well, there is Amagai Inn, which Yukiko's family runs if you're looking for a place to crash for the night," Chie said.
"Nice, could I possibly pay in services and/or information? I kinda lost my wallet in the tv, too." Andy asked.
"What about your 'daughters'?" Yukiko asked.
Andy pointed down at her thigh and the lack of pockets on her shorts. "I don't exactly have a phone at the moment, and my family is currently closer to Anactrica than Japan. In fact, I am very confused, because when I went to bed, I was not in Japan."
"Did you sleepwalk into the tv and end up here?" Yukiko asked. "For didn't Kanji do something similar yesterday?"
"Yeah, he fell asleep near his TV and fell into it," Chie answered.
"Yeah, something like that, probably." Andy agreed readily. "So uh, yeah. Can I uh, can I maybe stay at that inn? Again, I'm willing to work if that's an option."
"I am sure you don't have to, Mom wouldn't let a cripple do anything like, I am sure just a singular look will have you swept in blankets for she can be a bit of a bleeding charity case," Yukiko said, not noticing Andy's flinch at the word 'cripple.'
"Yukiko, you can't just call a person a cripple," Chie chastised her friend as she had noticed the flinch.
"Oh… Sorry." The black-haired teen apologized.
"It's fine, it's fine," Andy said. "I'm...well, obviously, one of these is a lot more recent than the other." She said, indicating her missing arm with her existing one. "Just...need to get back home to get a replacement...or some clothes, actually, clothes would work."
"Well, just follow me, I'll show you two the way. Do you lack a home as well, Miss Musashi?" Yukiko asked.
"I am a wanderer, but thankfully for Inn stays, I do have ways of paying compared to food," Musashi said as she took out a bag onto the table, which opened up and showed a bunch of gold and jewels.
"...If you have gold, you can get modern money, Musashi, holy shit…" Andy said, sighing and rubbing her temples.
"Don't want to waste it on food, like said this is for Inn stays, food bills can be run away from, Inn's charge upfront," She simply said.
"...I can't argue with that logic, but that does not mean I agree with it," Andy said after a moment.
"Holy shit… that is like millions of yen," Chie almost shouted.
"Shh!" Andy shushed, staring at the other patrons to see if they were staring- of course, they were staring, probably because of her, but none of them seemed to have heard that (or at least fully registered). "Mushi, put that away, and let's get out of here before discussing anything else like this."
She nodded her head, and put her gold away.
And they all quickly left the establishment.
