VERY IMPORTANT! CHEACK OUT VALKYRIES SHADOW!
You owe it yourself to check out this masterpiece.
It's mostly from the perspective of a Noble OC as The sorcerous kingdom from OVERLORD gets established.
The first act may be a bit meh, but once it gets going it gets only better and better with every chapter, which come DAILY!
Over a million words so bring some time for this fantastic read.
Back to my rubbish.
Seems like the mass-dessertion of my story didn't happen and neither did I get hatemail so ... 'what's next' I guess.
Seeing as your not so hung up on the rape part I can talk about some stuff I thought would be tasteless at first.
The whole thing started as a joke
I first asked myself: What does DIO do in his freetime?
(also had this thing planned where at the end of a chapter i would ask like
what does dio do in his free time?
What does DIO do in his free time?
What does Dio do in his FREE time?- as the story progressed and then Dio would be free and the rhetoric question would become an 'OH shit' question, but then I didn't dare do it.
I'm still a bit hung up about it so I wanted to mention it)
Anyway, what does DIO do in his freetime?
Fu- Making babies and acquiring more power/ a more powerful body!
would be my answer.
At first i had this idea that some characters would get 'infected' by Dio and after a fade to black would wake up naked in a bed with some lady.
I first thought of Ingenium and Ragdoll(or the other pussycat) as a small tribute to another great BNHA fanfic.
Very 90's 'Oh shit what happened' and her being like "You were so wild~. Like a completely different person."
I was already thinking up some comedic pairings and how I get All Might together with Inko when I realized: That is some fucked up shit.
I thought about it in a more dark light, keeping in mind the slimevillains rape attempt- He wanted Izukus body purely for his own use, there is no rape more 'pure' than that- and the result you saw for yourself.
Onto Dio himself and what happened last chapter.
There were no questions so I am to understand that there are none. Great!
I was worried that some parts would not be clear and Dios ability would be questionable.
...
Just for my own peace of mind i will quickly go over Dio.
First off: The FACTS are FACTS!
Here they are again:
1. Dio is tasteless
2. Consumption allows for amplified healing
3. Dio influences the drinker
4. Dio enables the understanding of Piklish
*NEW* 5. Dio may evolve given the right ... information
R. He cannot kill
Second: As a pikmin Dio works on a core that he cannot deny. His core is 'HEALING'. He is naturally compulsed to heal wounds.
Working against his nature destabilizes him over time.
Dio cannot override the will of a person at present time, even if that person is unconscious.
...
OH ALSO! The orange part
It was mainly to show that Dio evolved and orange was the chosen color because of his namesake, but it was also because it fits the color scheme
We have the primarys
Red-yellow-blue
secondarys
ORANGE- green- purple
black and white
And a ranglist XD
stone-copper-silver-gold
rocky is both black and stone in this case and the one not fitting is Sakura
A bit of a shame to be honest...
but i don't see a possibility for a skinchange for her
I guess i could have left Dio grey and made sakura orange, but i only thought of it later and it fits better like this anyway
One other way to look at it would be that the bright pink (tertiary) and the dark purple (also tertiary) make violet (secondary)
It works somehow...
Enough about that, chapter is waiting after all
I hope to finish the sports festival this month, but the amount of stuff in this chapter alone gets longer and longer in my head...
Anyway. ENJOY
CHAPTER 23
His consciousness was drifting...
His limbs were heavy and he was neither hot nor cold...
He could not say that he was comfortable, but he could lay here forever and be happy...
His eyes did not want to open and his thoughts began to drift off...
Wasn't he supposed to be somewhere urgently right now? But even as the urge forms it crumbles away at his fingertips, something inside him tells him he should feel something about that. Sad? Mad? He didn't know.
And as he breathes(?) deeply and drifts away...
'Whoever described death as ETERNAL REST-
"WHOOO BABY! I'M FINALLY OUT! HAHA...!"
-'was a filthy fucking liar.' Aizawa Shouta curses mentally as his eyes snap open, revealing bloodshot orbs of pure exhaustion and aggression. That is IF he had eyes that is... which he hasn't. BUT he doesn't know that quite yet so ignore what I just said.
While Shouta was still lying on the ground, trying to keep his impulses in check, but mostly establishing his sense of self again- death has the bothersome effect of making it all kinda... nebulous- whoever was making that racket was drawing the attention of someone else.
"GUH! Who the hell are you!? Where did you come from?" The sound of pages turning rapidly. "You also don't stand in the book! WHAT - THE FUCK!?" Whoever was having that minor meltdown not only had a beautiful strangely otherworldly voice, but Shouta could also kind of feel for her. Could just once keep everyone to the script!?
"Are my ears hearing right? A wonderful female figure after years of torment stuck in that monotone hell? Where are you madam? I am- ! A goddess..." he sighs breathlessly.
The aggravating male voice seemed to have found the owner or had some serious identity problems.
Finally having enough, and having recovered enough of his being to function mostly normal again, Shouta sits up and glares at whoever makes such a fucking racket when he finally wanted to partake in his long-desired sleep!
'I can sleep when I die' may be mostly meant as a joke, but it meant something to Aizawa, goddammit! He turns around to cuss out the annoyance and stops in shock.
A tall woman with pink hair in a leathery dress with spikes like teeth was browsing a book in her hand with an annoyed look on her perfect face. Her eyes look up and two pink diamonds drenched in blood pin Shouta in place - that must be the goddess. And going by her scythe it wasn't long to figure out what goddess. 'Shit I'm dead' Shouta was finally able to recognize his state for what it was.
Holding off on his breakdown or mourning or whatever he planned on doing once he realised his own demise, he turns to the second figure, which was a skeleton. A moving skeleton. A moving. and most annoyingly, TALKING skeleton.
The skeleton notices his movement and turns around. "AH! A skeleton!" It screams, it's two blue flames for eyes widen(?) in fear.
Shouta frowns, or would have, and looks down at himself. Two skeletal arms sit on his hipbones. A short look over himself reveals a textbook skeleton, if not for a shattered rip cage and some strange damage to his left elbow. He slowly stands up, much to the freight of second skeleton, which is ignored for now, and looks around.
"Is this hell?" He asks no one really as he looks at the dark horizon, the black sky and the strange red crosses in the sky, nonetheless he gets an answer.
"Uhm... No-?" The goddess was looking a bit offended. "Could you not compare my realm to that place, PLEASE? Believe me, you'd know if this was hell." She explains.
Shouta nods and decides to get on with it, he learned long ago that crying won't make things better. The other skeleton sneezes for some reason.
"Doesn't really look like heaven either, unless there was some serious misunderstanding somewhere, soooo Purgatory?" He asks the grim reaper.
Said Grim reaper was looking off to the side and scratching her head. "Yes? And no. It's kinda complicated." She admits with much reluctance.
'Wonderful. What did I expect really?' Only the sheer presence of the god of death was keeping Shouta from rolling his eyes in exasperation... and the fact that he had no eyes.
"So what's the problem and how long will it take to clear up? I was promised some sleep upon death and I would like to cash in on that sooner rather than later." Aizawas non-enthusiasm was fully recovered and the goddess and the other skeleton were looking at him funny for his rather calm behaviour considering the situation.
Aizawa turns to the other skeleton. "And who are you? I honestly thought this was supposed to be a private deal, especially considering my own demise. You don't seem to be one of my students 'Thank god' so you must be a villain." He observes.
"You're strangely relaxed considering you think I'm a villain." The skeleton sounds a bit surprised.
"We're dead. As far as I'm concerned you will get what's coming to you and I'll get mine. Or in other words: You're outside my jurisdiction. So what is it?"
Before the skeleton could explain himself the goddess intervened. "That is actually one of the problems. As you said this is supposed to be a private party, none of the other villains that died are here for one." Shouta narrows(?) his eyes at that information. " Also I have no idea who you are!" She points an accusing finger at the skeleton and than taps her book. "You are not on my list, buddy!" And then she turns around and shouts while pointing at Shouta. "And neither are you!" She throws up her hands and turns around to browse her book a bit more.
"" What do you mean i'm not on your list?"" The two skeletons ask.
Death turns around and points at Shouta. "You weren't supposed to die today! There are some close calls sometimes, especially considering your profession, but you aren't supposed to wake up, but look at you- "She waves at his standing form. "-dead as a nail."
Shouta remembers the circumstances of him waking up and points at the other skeleton. "Was it him?" His voice was promising violence on epic proportion. 'Hell is were you're rage is' or how did the saying go again?
Thankfully for the other skeleton, Lady Death shakes her head. "No. You died naturally. Well not 'naturally' , but of natural causes. You bled out too much and your brain did not get enough oxygen. Once a certain point passes, the soul wakes up here and you are dead. If someone would reanimate your corpse now, which is possible, it would be a vegetable." She explains.
"But there are people who recover. Even more now with the help of some quirks!" Shouta exclaims. If there was a chance he would like to go back thank you very much!
"Which is why you are here and being 'processed' and not somewhere else. Though there is no helping it past a certain point, not to mention what is happening to your body right now." She was muttering the last part to her self, but Shouta still heard her. "What do you mean 'considering what is happening to your body'!?" He demands to know, but Death ignores him for now and turns to the second skeleton, that has been suspiciously silent for some time now, maybe around the time it figured out the identity of grumpy skeleton.
"Now you." Death holds up her book. "I checked FOUR times now! And all dead people are accounted for! WHO. ARE. YOU!" She grabs her scythe and twirls it around to rest at the skeletons neck. A thick miasma of death forces Shouta to his knees.
"ONE MOMENT SIR- MADAM! Goddess- Lady Death, er..." The scythe vanishes and Death looks a bit exasperated and rubs the place between her eyes. "Just call me Calli." she says.
"Callie? Uhm okay? Anyway. The reason I'm not on your list is because I'm probably in an older edition." He explains.
"And older edition? You one of those wannabe immortal assholes?" She was looking a bit better at the opportunity to deal with someone that messed with their natural lifespan, but sadly the skeleton shakes his head.
"Not exactly. I meant that I died about a dozen years ago." He nervously glances over to Shouta for some reason.
"What!? Impossible! Every soul is to be accounted for! There is no- !" Callie stops and grinds her teeth in anger as she thinks of one way for this to happen.
"Seems like you thought of something, miss. Anyway just to be sure. My body was experimented on post death and I was resurrected against my will. Though I was more a prisoner of my own body at that point. There were others involved so I can only guess why I am the only one here." The skeleton looks at Shouta again who was horrified at what the other had experienced.
Death meanwhile was a bit shaken at the reminder of their greatest thorn in their side. "THAT BASTARD!" The killing intent emitting from her crushes the two skeletons to the ground. "When I finally get my hands on those F-"
"Ohhh Dad is angry!" A completely unfitting cheerful voice of determinable gender was wrecking the mood of hate, wrath and vengeance.
The killing intent vanishes like it never existed and Shouta watches as a new group of skeletons approaches. A way too cheerful group of skeletons.
"Guys, What the fuck!? I'm working right now!" Callie was sounding annoyed, but did nothing to stop their approach.
"Just a short special delivery!" Another skeleton thrills way too cheerfully. From within the group was some movement of something small between their forms. A small skeleton, a bit less than half their size so obviously a child, shyly peeks out from behind the group, which considering that they are all naked skeletons did nothing to hide her figure.
Callie immediately loses her annoyed expression and crouches down with open arms. "Hey champ! Where is my hug?" The little figure darts out and jumps into her arms. For a split second Shouta did not see a small skeleton with a horn on the side of its forehead, but a small cute girl with long white hair, before the image shatters and the skeleton remains.
"Calliope-oneesama!" A small girls voice echoes form the deep valley of Calliopes impressive form. Having delivered their charge the other skeletons wave and leave again.
"Sorry I couldn't welcome you personally, but work was calling." Callie was apologizing to the little one, who just shakes her head and nuzzles deeper, which was only possible because of Callie's otherworldly 'magnificence' and because the girl was so small, it would be a wonder if she was even ten years old yet, which made her appearance here rather tragic... Thankfully skeletons don't have to breathe.
After one more nuzzle Callie sets her down and mentions her to the side where some plushies suddenly appeared. (A shark, a doggie, a bird, an octopus and a skeleton with black glasses(!?) for those that are curious...)
"One moment Eri. I have to take care of something real quick ok?" One wonders how a naked skull can transmit the feeling of wobbling lips, but Eri managed just fine on that part. Callie crouches down again and pats her head softly. "'No crying!' -remember? You're way too awesome and cute for tears, so lift your chin! And give me a wide smile!" Callie gently lifts the little ones chin and the skeleton grins back at her. Seems like Calli sees a bit more than than though because she smiles softly back, elevating her otherworldly beauty to new heights. Even Shouta has to suppress a blush by this point, but managed to keep his dour mood, because he would really like to know if he was dead for real or not! His sleeping time was on the line! The other skeleton swoons.
"Now that's my girl! Just give me a moment to handle them ok? You can warm yourself up in the meantime so you can give me a sick beat later, how about that?" Little Eri visibly(?) brightens up- to be honest I'm not too familiar with skeleton expressions- and hurries over to the toys while going "Bootsncats Bootsncats Bootsncats ..." trying to find a beat. It was adorable and if Aizawas nonexistent heart was squeezing in sheer cuteness than at least no one could read it off his blank skull face.
Thinking of it there was a strange feeling in his chest... and it was not Eris cuteness as surprising as that sounds. He looks down and sees that his shattered ribs, that were floating around previously, started vanishing. That can't be good, can it? Seeing as every time they were going somewhere they were interrupted, Shouta decided to speak up.
"Seeing as that is taken care of, can we PLEASE take care of things!? Or is there something else that needs taking care off?" He asks cynically, not expecting her to turn around and watch a specific spot as if something would materialise any second...
...like a pillar of eternal flame, carrying a dear if slightly annoying friend.
... or a blue portal opening to time itself, ejecting an agent of chaos in surprisingly smol form... and cute doggies for Eri. OR... or a cranky time warden with MASSIVE ... responsibilities and a very VERY questionable fashion choice. Really makes me stop and question things every time.
Ahem-
... or a rift to the Void, where Madness meets Eternity and a cheerful voice rings out from countless tentacles.
*Bzzzz* *Bzzzz*
Callie reaches a hand in to her pocket and grabs her phone.
You still on for friday evening?
-G
... or she could just get a message on her phone like a normal person. She answers. ( Hell Yeah!) And turns back to Shouta. "Nah, should be all."
In a mortal body there would be concern for Aizawas blood pressure, but as a skeleton he was safe.
"Great!" the sarcasm went right by Callie and she only nods before turning to the other skeleton. "Right, your identity... You were saying?"
The other skeleton gives a rather choked laugh and instead turns to Aizawa. "Long time no see, Shouta." For a moment Aizawa is confused, until he realises that he never gave his name. "What do you mean!? Who are you?" He demands, but the skeleton ignores him.
"It's been some time and I didn't really have a feeling for time in my 'vessel', but I think it's been over ten years at least..."
There was only one person from that time-period that could have talked like this, but Shouta refuses to acknowledge it. Unbidden he thinks back to his dear lost friend, idol and crush. Did his voice sound like that? Didn't he already know from nightmares that regularly haunt him with his encouragement as he tries to 'save' him, but even as he shakes his head in denial his name slips out. "Oboro..."
As if triggered by his name for a split-second the skeleton in front of him was clad in his former guise as a human, Oboro in his old costume smiles brightly at Aizawa before the image shatters and the undefined form of Kurogiri blankly stares at him. Aizawa recoils in horror as Oboros past words reveal their whole gruesome meaning.
Blinding rage shakes his whole body and he gnashes his teeth with enough force to shatter them in his mortal body as he demands. "WHO...!?"
But Oboro only shakes his head sadly and replies. "No one I EVER want you to meet. Leave him to All Might. I'd say I'd rather have you alive than myself avenged, but this seems like it's too late HAHA!" Oboro laughs cheerfully and Aizawas last flickers of rage vanish as his hero smiles at him like he used to.
"Oboro, I'm so-" Shouta's apology gets rudely interrupted by Oboro's finger in his face and his angry expression in his face. It was still a bare skull , but strangely Shouta could only see Oboro's face.
"You better wanted to say you're 'sooo' glad to see me again, buddy! I certainly cannot recall you having to apologize for anything! ... Except for how you handled your crush on me that is." Oboro lays a hand on his chin and fondly remembers Shouta's awkward crush on him.
"Y-You knew!?" The normally so unruffled veteran underground hero was nowhere to be found! In place was a mortified man with a shrill voice.
"Everyone knew! Poor Hizashi, fawning after you and cheering you on even through his heartbreak. Kayama-senpai and me were actually planning something, if you wouldn't confess to me soon, but then I died..." Oboro lifts his arms in a 'What can you do' expression.
To the side Callie studies the books from ten and more years ago while those two are busy, but her curious gaze and red cheeks show that she wasn't that uninterested in their love triangle as it seemed.
"Make me confess!? But- I always thought you weren't..." Aizawa was left reeling at this discovery, only to get shot down immediately.
"Yeah, I'm not. Sorry Shouta, but my eyes can only be happy if they behold the female form" Oboro's eyes linger on a certain goddess. A stare from cold diamonds takes care of that.
"But once I rejected you, you could have finally searched for something actually viable. Like Hizashi- Congratulations by the way." Oboro gives a double thumbs up to Shouta.
"How do you know we're married?" Shouta asks.
"Married!? Even better! I could not be happier for you!." Oboro cheers.
"Huh?" The normally so cunning hero was left a bit reeling.
"You didn't question Hizashi's crush on you, so that could only mean he finally came out to you." Oboro was smirking at Aizawa while tapping his head. "It's called being observant, Shouta." He mocks lightheartedly.
"You were always especially observant when Kayama-senpai was around,eh?" Shouta could not help himself with this almost low blow, but his heart hasn't felt so light in years. Oboro chuffs his shoulder, but laughs with him before softly smiling to himself in precious memories.
"Ahh Senpai... I remember when I first saw her... and when I first saw her costume!" As a skeleton he was lacking everything necessary to blush but goddam that skull was red.
"I'm surprised! You always acted rather easy around it, well almost always..." Shouta remembers the good old times.
Oboro lifts his arm and slaps his nonexistent bicep with his hand. "The result of hard work and training! I almost had an accident the first few (hundred) times I saw her! So I took on some specialized training to not blow her off like some pervert! I went to the sauna daily or visited the nude beach!" Oboro gives a huge thumbs up and Aizawa does not know how to react. Was this the true face of his great hero?
"Was that the reason for the whole 'no shame' business?" Shouta forges ahead.
"Yeah... all that training had some side effects you could say - BUT considering Senpais 'tastes' it were actually positive effects all in all!" Oboro smiles haughtily before remembering something. "What is Senpai up to nowadays? Is her costume still so 'breathtaking'? Did she get even more beautiful? ... Does she have a boyfriend?" Oboro gulps before asking the last question.
"...What does the last thing matter? You're dead." Shouta cannot help but point out.
"Shouta~!" His friend whines.
In the background, Callie, who long since found the entry, got curious about this new person they are talking about, or rather of her 'costume'. What is she wearing that they are making such a deal off it? Using her powers as Death(s apprentice) she first gazes into the past - About here... There! !? - and stops immediately and wonders how that could have possibly been allowed! A short gaze further shows it becoming illegal and new rules being established concerning the amount of skin shown.
Even further in the background, Eri, who has momentarily stopped beatboxing, was playing with her dolls. As she was playing around with the shark doll in her right hand it suddenly went flying. Scared, but already aware of what she will find she looks down at her hand and only sees a stump of what's left of her right wrist. Even as she watches more and more of her disappears slowly and painfully. Her chin wobbles, but a quick look shows that Callie was not done with work yet. She turns around and ignores the pain and hopes that Callie will be done soon. There may only be one song today...
Callie meanwhile was nodding to herself as she decides to check the present time version of that hero... And stops in confusion when she sees the walking talking form of her 'guest'. That... shouldn't work? What the fuck is broken this time!?
As the other two ramble- ("She's a teacher now." "Oh really!? That's kinda hot...") - she checks why that corpse was moving without a soul. 'I swear if there is another fucking necromancer!'
Let's see... deadly wound, check... blood loss leads to lack of oxygen in brain rendering him braindead after enough time, check ... strange fluid enters his body, che-NOT 'What is that? Another one of these 'quirks'? An artificial intelligence? Now it's eating the other corpse? It's evolving!? A pseudo-soul! I see! That's why he is here! But what is it doing? The body is already repaired... unless that isn't the goal of it'
Callie hides her transfixed gaze with her book as she watches the pseudo-soul at work. She clutches the book harder when he assaults the elderly doctor, but is prevented from interfering by the actions of one of her old 'problems'. Nice to see the kid grew up nice and well.
She finally sees the Senpai again, now with a more acceptable costume, but still rousing in certain ways, as she tries to apprehend the walking corpse.
What follows next makes her blanch in horror and sympathy.
"It's great that Kayama-senpai is living her best life! Seems like she's got it all figured out." Oboro sounds genuinely glad for his old crush, but also a bit sad to not have been there for her and been maybe a bit more.
Shouta smiles softly. "Yeah, nothing can keep her down long. Makes me kinda jealous of her 'make do' attitude."
The expression on Callie's face is commonly called 'YIKES'.
Seeing the pseudo-soul be stopped in time, or maybe just a second too late, Callie stops watching and slams the book closed to banish the thoughts and feelings that help no one right now. Just because she has witnessed it first hand makes her no more responsible than any other time something like this happened in the last thousand years. The leather of the scythes handle creaks from the pressure of Callie's grip.
If that Pseudo-soul managed to create a copy of himself and birth it that would have been something different, but as is nothing happened as far as I'm concerned.
Two red flames encased in pink diamonds flare with repressed rage, that slowly diminish as Callie takes deep breaths and turns to her guests. If her Sensei was here right now he would scold her for being stupid! The door is sealed! Leave the living to their foolishness.
Gathering herself she approaches the two grown skeletons who stop their banter once they notice her.
"First off." She turns to Oboro. "I found you and everything checks out." She gives him a small bow and Oboro's attention is attracted by the sudden movement of landmass, Shouta cuffs him and he gathers himself.
"It's alright! I understand that these guys are a pain in your ass so let's settle it with an extra swing from your scythe for myself once you get them alright?" He was only half joking, they did kinda ruin his afterlife for some time, not to mention the stuff they pulled with his 'help'.
Callie nods solemnly and vows. "It shall be done." A short flash of light both freaks Oboro out and reassures him. A deal with death... NAISU.
He see her readying her scythe and lifts his arms in panic. "Um... You're not gonna send me on right now are you!?" He asks.
"Well, yes? You're a dozen years overdue!" She explains not seeing the problem.
"I just met my buddy after so long! Can't I stay until you took care of his business?" He asks hopefully, Shouta shyly nods in the background.
Callie scratches her cheek and doesn't meet their eyes. "Well no problem, but..." She hesitates, making Aizawa perk up and making funny things with his nonexistent blood pressure. The funny thing is also called anxiety.
"But what!?" He demands.
"Well I have one good message and two bad ones. Which would you prefer to hear first?" She asks to buy some time.
"The good!" says Oboro. "The bad!" Says Shouta. Both look at each other, but then Oboro nods.
"The bad news are, there is no good news." They exchange confused looks and Callie continues.
"The other bad news is you are now DEAD dead. You cannot return." She tells Shouta.
"WHAT!? I thought this was only a temporary thing! Does this have something to do with what you said happened to my body!?" Shouta demands to know.
Suddenly "AAH!" Eri collapses because her leg is gone.
Aizawa looks over and done and sees that the little girl was missing an arm, a leg and part of her hip.
"What happened to her?" "Shouta!" Oboro's shout draws his attention only to follow his pointed finger to his chest. His obliterated chest was slowly vanishing. "Is the same happening to me!? ANSWER DAMMIT!"
Callie was ignoring his demands and was instead kneeling next to Eri and taking her in her arms.
"I got you champ." She tells her before she sighs and starts explaining, all the while brushing Eris skull.
"I told you you were being 'processed'. That means your deaths were not ... assured yet. In your case it was because you were effectively braindead. While there was a chance to reanimate you, the chances of you ending up a vegetable were near certain. I know there are quirks that can help in such cases, but prolonged stay in such vessels can damage the soul! Your friend was insanely lucky to not have been damaged beyond repair in his 'prolonged life'."
"But what does that have to do with what is happening to me and her!? Why are we vanishing?"
"You're not vanishing but reviving." Shouta blinks in utter confusion.
"But you just said-"
"I know what I said!" Callie sighs deeply. "As you may have noticed, these skeletons represent your bodies. Any damage you sustained immediately before your death are represented in your form. Your chest and arm and if you look closely your friend has multiple cracks in his chest and skull." Indeed upon closer inspection a web of cracks winds through Oboro's skeleton.
"Normally, you would wait here for your body to get treatment and return to it once it was safe to do so. The repaired wounds being the main indicator."
"But our wounds aren't healing! They are vanishing!"
"I said normally! Like you Eri is not really dead. Unlike you she is only dead for the fraction of a millisecond." Callie tells the heroes, who don't understand her meaning.
"Someone in the living world has a quirk that lets him manipulate matter. He is using her for some sick experiment and when she does not follow his orders he rips her body apart and puts her together again."
Horrified silence follows Callie's explanation and both heroes look down to the little girl that is clearly in pain, both cursing their own powerlessness.
"I met Eri through sheer happenstance the instant she once manifested." They do not have to know that she stumbled over her skeleton the instant it appeared. "And grabbed her to get some answers. Now I arranged it for her to stay the most time possible here before she is inevitably resurrected."
"Is that safe? That cannot be good for her soul!" Shouta remembers Callie's concern about soul-damage and voices his own concern.
Callie shakes her head.
"The prolonged stay is like a drop in a bucket. Compare it to watching your life in your last seconds kinda deal, just different. She doesn't even immediately remember and experiences it in her dreams. Inside this dimension I have complete control over time- to an extent." Shouta realizes that she was messing with him earlier with the phone message, but decides to let it go.
"What's more concerning is the repeated deaths. At one point she will hit her limit and not resurrect." Callie's hand flinches as it passes over Eris skull as the thought terrifies her.
"What would happen then? Would there be some negative consequences for her afterlife, or something?" Oboro asks.
"I don't know." answers Callie in a small scared voice too soft for Eri to hear.
Oboro and Shouta watch each other, unsure how to react as more and more of Eris body vanishes.
"What about me?" Finally Shouta takes heart and asks the question about his own chance of resurrection.
Callie's hand stops brushing and clenches into a fist, before relaxing and grabbing Eri around the waist. The two heroes step back as she lifts the remains of the girls skeleton and turns to them with sorrow in her eyes.
"I want to give Eri at least one nice dream so excuse me for a moment. Here." She waves her hand and a mirror appears in front of them. "This will show you what happened to your body... and why you cannot return as you are."
They watch her step away and sit down on a chair that suddenly appears before soft music drifts through the air and a hauntingly beautiful melody fills their soul.
"おつカリ! " It's the end of the party, let's hit the road
Before I have to flash back to 死神モード
With Death's melody in their ears the two friends approach the mirror with heavy hearts.
"There is not nearly enough blood here for my tastes! Nomu, rip out his guts!"
A mad grin on a face covered by a hand.
"SENSEII!"
Desperate cries in a world of darkness
"Shouta..."
A weak plea for a loved one.
"That has become something much harder to answer. But maybe our patient can answer our questions?" - "What gave it away, Baba?"
A horrifying reaction from a familiar face.
"You cannot kill!"
A gamble for two lifes.
"Shouta, could you come with me?"
A dear friend and ray of hope.
"Master..."
A friend broken beyond recognition, hope extinguished and only the cold abyss of despair.
Oboro falls to his knees, wishing for it to be a dream, a bad joke! But reality laughs in his face with the hauntingly familiar form of his friend and a smile as unfitting as it was charming. Not even for a second could he compare that monster to his friend and he knew that Kayama would feel the same!
But what about Shouta ... ?
A skeletal fist smashes into the mirror, shattering it and the fist into oblivion.
More determined than ever Shouta faces his friend. "I have to go back!"
They turn to Death singing the last lines of her goodbye, the skull of Eri pressing into her chest.
そろそろ Say Goodbye
La-da-da-da
See you again, sometime
A song in my heart
この瞬間が宝物
"また君に会いたい"
と言ったら、幸せ
Even as they storm near, as everything inside them compels them to ACT NOW! They stop a short distance away and wait in respectful silence for the little girl to dissappear completely and a second for Death to gather herself.
Shouta felt for her and for Eri and this whole situation was all kinds of messed up, but he had to go back. He had to do something! Anything! Even if only help Kayama with her new burden.
"Listen. I'm sorry. I know it's kind of a bad moment, but as far as i can tell I don't have a lot of time! I need to go back! And you are the only one that can help me! Please..." Shouta was begging to the silent form of Lady Death, Oboro's hands on his shoulders.
Finally after a felt eternity she sighs and stands up again.
"I told you that that was no longer a possibility for you." She tells him in a soft voice.
Shouta wanted to get mad, but he could only softly ask. "Why?" His voice breaks as his hope dies.
She points at his chest again, which was now completely free of ribs and his missing arm. "Your body is getting healed, but the healed parts are no longer attuned to your soul. If you would try to take over your body like that there would be unimaginable consequences!" She holds a hand up when she sees that he was about to intervene. "And before you say something dumb like you'll risk it." She creates the mirror again and shows Shouta's smiling face, Dio in full control.
"Right now your brain is 'wired' towards him. If you try to take over your body and your soul collapses you will leave a 'residue'. In the worst possible scenario your body will take the soul scraps and the intellect that last possessed it and form a new entity! DO. YOU. UNDERSTAND!?" The look in her eyes make it absolutely clear how dangerous that would be.
Shouta steps back, losing hope and cursing his helplessness. Surprisingly Oboro spoke up.
"You said 'not as he is', what do you mean?" He asks her. Callie does not meet his eyes and Shouta perks up again.
"What do you mean?"
"Earlier, she said you could not return as you are. That means you can return another way." Oboro's mind was running a million miles a second as he was looking for a way. And then he found it as he recalls how HE ended up here!
"ME!" He shouts and grabs his chest. "I'm the key! That thing used my former body to heal you so you are no longer completely yourself! Your body is partly made up o my own!" He looks down himself. "But why didn't my chest vanish then?"
Callie inwardly curses him for figuring it out, but explains nonetheless.
"You're DEAD dead. There was no way of reviving you, it was just about identifying you. And making sure your soul don't start to fuse because of your bodies." She reluctantly admits.
For a moment Oboro was tempted to ask more about that, but a lifted eyebrow from Callie and what he recalls from the other Nomus answer that question themselves.
"So we fill out Shouta's missing parts with myself and he can go, right?" Oboro asks in a eager tone, horrifying Callie and making Shouta frown.
"I don't think it's that easy..." He guesses.
"NO IT'S FUCKING NOT!?" Callie thunders, before grabbing her head as if struck by a sudden migraine. "Ugh! This is gonna end terrible I know it!
"Mistress... Please! We beg of you!" Oboro actually goes down on his knees and after a moment Shouta copies him. "I- WE need to go back!" Shouta pleads.
Callie watches the two heroes, both good people that are certain to be granted a peaceful afterlife and both willing to return to the mortal coil again. Not for themselves, but for their loved ones...
Her mind unwittingly drifts to Eri and her situation and a plan slowly forms in her brain. A stupid, dangerous, catastrophic plan! But also a chance...
Coming to a decision she grabs her scythe and slams the end of it into the ground. Immediately all light extinguishes and the only illumination was an eerie red light coming from her scythe and her eyes that glowed the color of blood.
Trapped in eternal darkness the two heroes kneel before the Mistress of Death and await her judgement.
"I will only ask once. Are you sure?" Her voice penetrates their very being and echoes in their souls.
"Their will be no guarantee, no second chances and no place for doubt."
She waits for them to understand her words and continues.
"You will each be branded by my seal." A copy of that seal floats in front of her. I was a stylized little Reaper with a crown wielding a scythe, the edge of the scythe was forming a giant C and the dress of the reaper was reading 'Mori'.
"These will work as proof of existence and badge of duty. You may find others with similar brands, but you best ignore them."
"Are you giving these out often?" Shouta could not help but ask.
"Yes..., but for a much different purpose." She did not explain more.
"So to go back we have to perform some kind of duty for you? What happens when we finish it? Do we die? Or live on? What-" Oboro's stream of question is interrupted by a glare from Callie.
"I'm getting to it! You will have three months to fulfill your first duty. Should you fail you will die and return here and start your after life. THE END." Callie manifests two seals into the air and touches them both with her scythe.
"What is our first order?" Shouta asks.
"Bring me Chisaki Kai and Kurono Hari."
Shouta waits for something -anything- else, but Nope! That's it.
"O-kay~?" Oboro looks at Shouta, who just shakes his head back. Both have no idea who that is supposed to be. "Anything else? A reason at least?"
Callie frowns down at them and for a moment Oboro was worried that he screwed it up, but then she relents.
"That is all. And for a reason... They hurt Eri." Considering what they know of the small ones circumstances that was all the motivation they needed.
"Once you have fulfilled your first order the second one will activate. The time limit for that one is unclear, but at least ten years."
"Wow so long!? What are we to do? And what happens when the first one vanishes by the way?" Oboro asks, Aizawa already has an idea for the order considering the first one.
"You are to take in Eri and raise her the best you can. Should she die- or worst- KILL HERSELF, the seal will break and you will return here only to be flung into the deepest pit of damnation I can find! Understood?" Both nod their head with full might.
"Or rather, one of you. To answer your question. You will depart here with two souls in one body to counter the damage done to the body. After enough time your souls will stabilize and only one soul will be necessary. Once the first order as been fulfilled, one of you will return to the after life and the they will stay in the body to take care of the second order."
An idea forms in Aizawa's head as Oboro slaps him on the shoulder. "Nice! I get some nice catching up and get to go out in style! These three months will be awesome!" Oboro cheers.
"I won't interfere if you want to pull it out like that, but you will vanish once the second soul has been delivered. Delivering only one will not extend your time! Any questions left?"
"Well if I have the chance... I don't mean to be rude, but why don't you go after them yourself? Is there some kind of rule?" Oboro could not help his curiosity.
"Yes. The door between realms is shut! We cannot interfere in the realm of the living and vice versa. The path to the other realms is similarly sealed." She explains.
"And i guess you can't just pop it open for a second and take care of stuff, right?" Oboro jokes, but Callie was as serious as the grave.
"Once open the door CANNOT be sealed so easily!" Her voice carried the weight of millennia as she spoke.
Thankfully in THIS reality no one was so stupid to open any doors they weren't supposed too! (the legend continues... January 2022)
"Aaalllright~,I guess(?)" Oboro did not know what she means with doors, but he takes it. "Let's do this, eh?" He turns to Callie. "What do I do?"
"Hold still." "Eh?-" *SCHING* Oboro looks down in panic as his upper body and right shoulder slowly glides away from the cut Callie made.
"Than this~" Callie grabs his skull and ignores his flailing and rams him into the flabbergasted Aizawa. A bright light flares and a moment later a complete skeleton with a red and blue flame in its eyes stands before Callie.
"Good." Callie pats herself on the shoulder for a job well done.
She uses her scythe to touch either hand of the skeleton and one blue and one red seal appear. "Perfect. Now you can return. Don't forget. No dying! No loss of will to live! And NO FUSING! Otherwise i have to explain myself to Death-sensei."
"Yes, yes- WAIT! Death-SENSEI!?" Oboro's voice echoes from Aizawa's mouth, the blue flame flaring. "I thought... " he points at her.
"Nah. I'm his number one apprentice!" Callie flashes a cute little peace sign before slamming the blunt end of the scythe into the them.
""APPRENTICE!?"" Was the last thing echoing through the dimension.
Callie cheerfully turns around and makes herself ready for her performance later when a thought occurs to her. "I did tell them to brace for the pain right? Eh, they should know! Have to rewire the whole brain after all... I hope they don't forget anything because of it..."
With a last shrug of her shoulders she vanishes into the darkness.