"Mama?"

"Yes baby?"

"Is that a dead person?"

"It is baby."

"Why is it on our kitchen table?"

"Because," Lilly said slowly, "I'm trying a new experiment."

Yūta reflexively glanced down at the Cursed Spirit in his hands. He had been feeding the black bird, Kurai, for a few weeks. It still tried to attack them every so often, but it was docile in the presence of Tora. The nekomata kept a close eye on the avian spirit. Yūta looked at the body. "Who was he?"

"I don't know," she said. She didn't know his name. She had watched him battle Satoru Gojō after she saved Satoru. The man was impressive, especially considering he did not use an ounce of spiritual energy.

That was not why she had him, though.

After Satoru killed him, she replaced his corpse with a good replica. She always kept a few corpse-copiers in her void storage whenever she had to fake a death. Unfortunately that was her last one which meant she'd need to make more soon. That was never a fun process. Hopefully she had all the ingredients in her void storage and wouldn't need to farm for anything. She liked hunting ingredients as much as anyone, but making the trips to one of the dimensions of hell for the guts of facers was rarely ever fun.

By rarely ever fun, she meant only ever fun when completely wasted and with equally wasted friends.

She hoped that the man she used her last corpse-copier on would be worth it.

Her reasons were twofold.

One: she wanted to test the extent of her abilities in that world.

Two: her instincts told her that the man had something to do with the Story.

Just as she knew Yūta was a protagonist—or antagonist—she knew the man in front of her had to be related. How important he was, she didn't know. He was marked for Death, which meant he was meant to die that year—likely by Satoru's hands.

His death meant… something. To someone. Somehow.

She didn't know, but after lifetimes of living in stories, she had a good instinct for what was vital and what wasn't.

That man's death was vital.

So what happens when he doesn't stay dead?

She wanted to know.

Resurrection was something that varied world to world. Some worlds considered it a staple of life—like breathing or baking—and other worlds were so tightly restricted it could not be done.

Lilly could Pause time in that world, but she was not allowed to go Forward or Backwards. She could only live in the Now, never the Later or Then for that world. She knew this when she tried to jump back to the past after meeting Satoru and was promptly rejected.

Which meant there were clearly some restrictions on that world.

So could she resurrect? The world already had a tear between Life and Death in it. Worlds like that usually permitted some kind of resurrection, whether that be liches, zombies, vampires, or whatever… something.

Lilly assessed the man on her table. Tall, muscular, sharp features. He was certainly handsome in a battle-scarred veteran kind of way.

Yūta approached the table. He reached forward and poked the corpse's cheek. "It's cold."

"It is. I had to make sure the soul was completely gone first," she said. "It's easier to simply heal a body that's got a soul still tied to it. True resurrection is bringing the soul back to the body after it's left."

"And that's what you're going to try to do?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. "I want to see if it's allowed."

"Allowed? What would stop you?"

"A variety of things. Up is up and down is down here after all," she said.

"Why wouldn't up be up?" Yūta was perplexed.

Lilly smiled briefly. "It's perspective, baby. Are you ready?"

"Can I help?"

"No, but you can watch," she said. "I'll do it on three. One… two… three!"

She placed her hand over the forehead of the corpse and began to push her energy inside it.

The flesh knitted itself back together. Her energy transformed into vitality, nursing the body back into health. What was taken was returned; what was destroyed was repaired. Healing the body felt no different from healing a living one.

Is there no penalty…? Lilly felt wary of that. Surely not.

A lack of penalty meant a lack of supervision. That was dangerous. That led to creatures that should not exist coming to life, or beings that belonged to higher dimensions sneaking in. It was most common in truly horrific worlds that told glorified gore-porn stories.

The true test would be when she called for the soul.

Come here. This Story called for your death. You don't have to let it win, though. Come here. Come to me.

As the valkyries, angels, and reapers taught her, she called for the soul.

And she—

A shiver ran through her. She only had a second to process the fact that the soul had successfully returned to the body, and she was about to pay the price.

Oh, was all she could think as searing pain tore her mind apart and she collapsed to the floor.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

She awoke many hours later, shivering and weak. Her body was drained of energy and ached as if she had been beaten with a bat. She was still on the kitchen floor, but she was surrounded by blankets, pillows, and heating pads.

The nekomata, Tora, had wrapped himself around her, and Yūta was draped over her belly.

Even blinking hurt.

"Baby," she whispered. It took a considerable amount of effort to tap Yūta's head. While doing so, her hand and arm trembled violently. She was cold, terribly so. Yūta jumped as soon as she touched him. He sat up sharply, his eyes puffy and red.

"Mama," he croaked. "Mama!"

Lilly smiled as gently as she could for her son. It came out small and weak. "Hi baby."

"Are you okay? Mama what happened?" Yūta asked, tears spilling over his eyes. Lilly used the back of her sleeve to wipe the tears and snot from his face.

"A price to be paid," she said.

It was a heavy price, but she did not find it unreasonable. Assessing her body, it seemed that the price of true resurrection was a considerable amount of spiritual energy.

Lilly wasn't a weak person by any means. She had amassed an impressive amount of power and abilities through her reincarnations. She had an abundance of spiritual energy, enough to rival deities in certain worlds. Hell, she even killed and ate a few of them.

Yet resurrection took all of that power. It ripped it from her forcibly and left her completely drained. It would take days for her to function without pain or tremors, and weeks to regain enough power to feel safe.

But that was it. Just a lot of spiritual energy. It did not shorten her lifespan, nor did it punish her. She sensed no reapers or equivalent beings near her, which also meant it was allowed.

From that, Lilly could conclude resurrection was allowed in that world. She doubted any one person was capable of it on their own, but a group of dedicated spiritual users had the potential to bring anyone back from the dead. She would guess that there already were some Sorcerers who used techniques similar to resurrection. Perhaps temporary resurrections, or maybe manipulated souls after death.

After all, if true resurrection was allowed, then anything up to that was also permitted.

Which means I can totally start a zombie apocalypse if I wanted to, Lilly thought.

She didn't get to trigger those very often.

Well. If I decide to fuck the world, I think that'll be my weapon of choice.

Lilly glanced at the table. The man was still on it.

"Has he moved?" Lilly asked.

"Huh? Um…"

"Sleeping," said Ame who attentively hovered in the air above Lilly.

"How long was I out?" Lilly asked.

"F-Few hours," said Yūta. "You kept shivering. I—I thought you were cold."

"I am," she said. "Thank you for trying to keep me warm, baby. Would you do me a favor?"

"A-Anything."

"On my desk there's a little glass orb," she said. "Would you please go shatter it? That should summon Shiori. I'd like to put this man on stasis until I'm recovered, but I don't have enough energy."

"I'll take care of it!" Yūta exclaimed, rushing to stand up. "B-Be right back, Mama!"

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

It took three months for Lilly to recover to her normal standards. In that time she kept the freshly resurrected man on stasis. Her son was very mindful of his mother, constantly reaching for her hand to make sure she was okay. Yūta hadn't needed to sleep with her since he was a toddler, but in those months he couldn't bear to sleep apart.

When Lilly felt reasonably recovered, she pulled the man out of stasis and woke him up. He was instantly alert, sitting up and assessing the kitchen with a sharp gaze. Yūta jumped at his sudden movement and hid behind Lilly, clutching at her apron.

"Hello," she said.

The man stared blankly at her, cold eyes assessing. "Who the fuck are you?"

"I'm Lilly," she said. "I resurrected you."

"Why?"

"To see if I could," she answered honestly. "What's your name?"

He let out a little heh. "Tōji. Whatchu want in return?"

"What can you offer?" Lilly asked, amused. What do you value your life at?

"I'm an assassin. I can give you a freebie," he said with a humorless smile.

"I don't really need help with that," she said ruefully.

"Huh. Well, whatever," he said, hopping off the table. He stumbled. Lilly quickly caught him. "Uh."

"You were literally resurrected," she said. "You're going to be sore for a while. I'd appreciate it if you stayed here for a month so I can monitor you."

"No thanks, I'm fine," he said, straightening up. Lilly had to admit she was impressed with his self-discipline and poker face. She knew for a fact he had to be in a considerable amount of pain. Each step he took had to feel like he was stepping on a bed of hot needles. He hid the discomfort well.

Too well.

He's a man accustomed to pain, she thought. He wasn't much older than Satoru which implied—

Abusive childhood.

He made a move for the nearest front door. Lilly had two doors that connected outside the house. The first in the kitchen, and the other in the tea shop below them. The kitchen door was hooked to Lilly's special garden in the pocket dimension that only Lilly could access. Any who tried would find themselves staring at the empty void of the In Between.

Lilly made no effort to stop him from opening that door.

"The fuck?" he said, opening the door to find himself staring at a void.

"We're in a pocket dimension," she said.

"A domain?" he was incredulous. "You're a Sorcerer? Don't look like any Sorcerer I've met."

"No and no," she said. "I'm not affiliated with the Jujutsu Society. I'm just a simple mother who dabbles in the occasional borderline illegal experiment."

Tōji grinned mirthlessly. His tone had a bitter edge to it as he drawled out, "And I'm your latest lab rat?"

Lilly winked. "Right you are! You'll be free to leave after a month is up, I promise."

"Not like I have a choice," he said, his voice dripping in sarcastic venom.

"You're a smart cookie." Lilly glanced down at Yūta who slowly stepped out from behind her. "This is my son, Yūta. Yūta, say hi to the lab rat."

"Hi lab rat."

Tōji let out a heh.

"And this is Tora," Lilly continued, gesturing to the nekomata. Tōji's eyes narrowed slightly. He turned his head in the direction of the Cursed Spirit, but his eyes never connected with it. "Um… can you not see spirits?"

"Nope," he said.

"Oh." Lilly noticed he didn't have any Cursed Energy—hardly any spiritual energy in the first place—but she didn't realize that meant he would be blind to the Cursed Spirits.

I guess that makes sense. Civilians don't have Cursed Energy and they can't see Cursed Spirits.

Still, it'd be awfully inconvenient if he couldn't see three out of the five occupants in the house.

What was the spell?

Lilly felt like she could remember a spell from the Pathfinder-verse. Something that revealed ghosts. What was it…?

"[Reveal True Shape]," she said. "Can you see now?"

"No."

"Hmm."

It took Lilly a dozen spells alternating between the Pathfinder, DnD, and Original Sin-verse but she was finally able to find one in the Baldurs Gate-verse that worked.

"That's fucking weird," he said, staring at the Cursed Spirits. "Do they all look like that?"

"No, these actually are pretty cute," she said, smiling at Tora and Ame.

"Huh," was all he said. He glanced around the kitchen and living room. "So… just need to stay here a month?"

"If you would please," she said. "I'm getting ready to make dinner, as you are our guest if there's anything in particular you'd like I'd be happy to oblige."

Tōji cocked his head, sharp eyes continuing to look around. "Whatever."

Lilly shrugged. She patted Yūta's head. "Baby, why don't you finish your homework?"

"Oui," he said. He nodded at Tōji. "Um… I hope we can get along."

"Sure kid," he said.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Yūta headed upstairs to his room, Tora following behind him. Ame hung themselves on the kitchen door, content with being near Lilly while she worked on dinner.

He'll probably need a big hearty meal, Lilly thought, glancing at Tōji. He took a seat at the outside kitchen counter, his back to the living room as he blatantly watched Lilly. His face conveyed no emotions, but his posture was tightly coiled.

He looks like a cat ready to pounce, she thought, looking away from him and into the kitchen fridge. He'll probably try to attack me at least once.

She didn't need to be a mind reader to guess that intention.

At least he didn't ooze killing intent, or murderous rage. He was cool, composed, and entirely focused on her.

He was well trained.

So young. Poor dear.

That level of tight composure only came from experience. Lilly certainly believed him when he said he was an assassin. She was already impressed that he could go toe-to-toe with Satoru with just his wit and physical prowess.

Lilly pulled out some duck meat she had butchered the previous weekend.

I'll make a stew. That should be easy on his stomach, Lilly thought.

As she started to work on the duck and potato stew, she hummed to herself. She was tempted to put on some music, but didn't want to stop what she was doing to do it. So she hummed and sung quietly under her breath as she worked.

Tōji continued to watch her, not making a single peep.

She had only finished cutting all the vegetables when she felt a knife press into her throat.

He didn't make a single sound, Lilly thought. She didn't hear him coming at all. He was an excellent killer, she'd give him that.

Tōji was behind her, and he dug the knife into her throat.

"I suggest you let me out of here," he said. "Or I'll make that boy an orphan."

Lilly leaned into him, tilting her head up to look at him. She smiled. "Would you like some bread with your stew tonight?"

He pressed the knife further in, drawing blood. "You think I won't?"

Lilly Paused time. She carefully moved his hand away from her, plucked the knife from his grasp, then placed him back in his seat.

She Unpaused time.

Tōji blinked. "What…?"

"I asked if you would like some bread with your stew tonight?"

Tōji gaped at her for a brief second. He shook his head, putting back on his poker face. "Er, um… Yeah."

"Why are you in such a hurry to leave anyway?" Lilly asked teasingly as she went back to work. "Got a hot honey bunny waiting for you?"

Tōji cocked his head, his brow creased. "Ehh… no."

"A kiddo?"

"Ehh… Oh, yeah, I got one of those."

"Oh." Lilly brightened. "Tell me about them."

"Can't," he said. "Only met 'em once." He scratched his head as he thought. "Megumi? Think that's their name."

"Oh," said Lilly. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I'm sorry you didn't have a good father figure in your life," she said. She reached forward and gently pat his shoulder. "I'm sorry your child will bear the consequences of that."

Tōji shrugged, unbothered.

Lilly watched him carefully. His expression gave away nothing, which told Lilly a lot. She suspected he had a rough childhood due to his pain tolerance, his occupation as an assassin, and now his lack of interest in family.

Dissociated? Lilly wondered. It wasn't uncommon for victims of intense trauma to detach themselves from reality. She noticed he had a lot of hiccups when trying to recall personal things, which was another sign.

Was he like that before resurrection, or did she turn him that way?

Either way, he became someone under her care the moment she forced him into life again.

That's a poor way to live, she thought. She knew, she had done it many times. Dissociating was her default way to cope when memories overwhelmed her. Everything was easier when nothing mattered.

She did a lot of horrible things under that mindset. A lot of regrets.

"Do you have a dream?" she asked even though she had a solid guess that he wouldn't.

He stared blankly at her for a long time. "What?"

"Something you want? Do you have anything that you want in life?"

"No?" Tōji scratched his head again. "Money?"

"If you had all the money in the world, what would you do?" she pressed.

"I dunno? Retire? Lay back on a beach?"

"I can make that happen," she said. "Is that what you want? To do nothing but rest?"

"I… guess…? I dunno," he said.

"Then rest here," she said. "Stay here."

"Thought I could leave after a month," he drawled.

"You can, but don't," Lilly insisted. "If an easy life is what you want, that is something I can give you."

"Why?"

"Because you'll realize it's not what you actually want," she said. "And I want to help you find that—to find your purpose."

He barked out a laugh. "Purpose? The fuck is that righteous bullshit?"

"You need a reason to live," she said. "Otherwise, you're just living to survive. That's no way to experience life."

"And you think you can help with that?" he scoffed. "How arrogant are you?"

"I can certainly try," she said. "Even I cannot help those that don't want it. Relax. Take this time to rest. Let me take care of you until you're ready to take care of yourself."

"Whatever," he said quietly.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

For the remainder of the month, Lilly had two babies to take care of.

While Tōji was a grown man, he did not seem to understand the concept of self-care outside of exercise. He ate without thought or appreciation, scarfing down his meals like a dog who didn't know when he would get to eat next. He slept lightly, instantly waking up alert any time there was an unexpected noise in the house. Sometimes he would sit completely still and zone out, his eyes unfocused, and only when touched did he return to reality.

Unfortunately, jolting him back elicited an instant aggressive action. He tried to slice Lilly's neck open several times with whatever was handy when she touched him.

The man acted like he lived in a war all of his life, and didn't know how to act outside it.

In a way, Lilly guessed it was a blessing in disguise he wasn't involved in his child's life. He could accidentally kill the child in one of his… reflexives.

Lilly was happy she had the foresight to advise Yūta to not touch Tōji without Lilly nearby. Her son was a good boy and had a good instinct. He picked up that Tōji was… not all there. Yūta refrained from physical interactions with Tōji, but he went out of his way to talk to him. Tōji wouldn't always remember their conversations, but Yūta never let that stop him.

At the end of the month, Lilly asked Tōji if he would like to leave.

"I'd prefer it if you stayed," she said.

Tōji shrugged. "I don't really have anywhere else to go anymore, do I? I'm declared dead and all."

"That's true," she said, pleased he wasn't putting up a fight.

And that was how their little family of two (plus spiritual pets) became a family of three.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Tōji is a depressed baby you can't change my mind.

Next chapter will have a lot of time jumps as we leap from 2007 to 2014. Had to split this in half because it was getting really long. Will include several perspective changes (Satoru, Tōji, and Yūta and more).

Answer: Cat's Return. But then I would insist on being Baron's assistant because heck yeah.

Question: If you had the power to end a world in any fashion you want, how would do it?

Reviews are love!