If you successfully guessed 'Ah, new Fates-related content. That means Nate is absolutely going to write something about it', then you're unequivocally right and it almost pains me that I'm so easy to read. Nevertheless, I press on, deterred only by my ungodly inability to stick to some semblance of a schedule, updating fics and publishing others whenever and however I please. Imagine if I was writing a more serious story, like an adaptation or continuation of one of the games, I'd probably have you all tearing your hair out with cliffhangers that only get resolved by more cliffhangers after years of waiting. Thank god this is only a compendium of silly siblings doing silly sibling things, and thank you to the quarantine for actually bestowing the time upon me to revisit it in these trying times. Here's the Midori chapter I promised around five or so years ago, now more relevant than ever. Please review if you have the time, your thoughts are always appreciated! Thanks for your continued support, and stay safe.
Word count: 1,775 words.
.13 - Shigure and Kana and Midori
The Order of Heroes was in no shortage of Hoshidan and Nohrian representatives by the time Shigure and Kana arrived. From their parents to their countless aunts and uncles to every whimsical retainer in-between, it was clear that the number of heroes hailing from their world dwarfed the other worlds frequently contracted by the order, whose own rosters were by no means meager, just not overwhelmingly monolithic. Whether this was by design or chance, Shigure couldn't say. The kingdom's one and only summoner didn't appear to hold any implicit or explicit preferences towards any particular world. If anything, his biases lied in the complete opposite direction, which is to say he treated them all with equal parts contempt and scorn. He was a curmudgeonly fellow, with wide weary eyes that sank into his sickly face and an overwhelmingly caustic aura that deterred everyone but the youngest, and in his eyes, brattiest, of heroes.
"Another lance flier and dragon child," Shigure recalled the man lamenting to his face the day he and his sister were summoned. "As if I don't already have enough of either of those. Right, well, someone that isn't me will see you out, yada yada. You're free to lounge in the barracks once the commander pushes the paperwork through."
'It was probably by chance,' Shigure thought in retrospect.
Whatever the reason for their numbers, happy accident or otherwise, they certainly didn't mind the reunion. Shigure found that his father was overjoyed to have siblings who weren't constantly at each other's throats, as well as a wife who could let her voice ring without a constant presence of fear and loathing breathing down her neck, and two wonderful children who he could endlessly dote on and embarrass without the duties of leadership coming first. The more heroes the merrier as far as he was concerned, and Shigure wasn't in any position to argue given the circumstances. Askr was a wonderful place after all, and although the peace it offered was routinely being threatened by the kingdom's own bevy of adversaries (currently fairies or something, as if things couldn't get any stranger than death itself), the Hoshidans and Nohrians found that confronting them as equals was still ultimately preferable to confronting each other. As it turned out, the absence of intimate, intrinsic, personal conflict made it easy to grow accustomed to the life of a hero whose duties and emotional engagements extended only as far as the conflicts of their employer. Knowing that they would one day woefully and inevitably return to their baggage back home only encouraged them to make the most out of their stay, for however long it could be.
Breidablik was a generous relic, even if the man wielding it sure wasn't. New arrivals were a regular occurrence, and although their world's roster was already stacked to the brim with representatives, the Breidablik evidently took no issue with plucking even more heroes out of the blue to bolster their ranks. As far as old acquaintances go, only a fraction of Deeprealms veterans were present when Shigure and Kana joined the order; their princely cousin Siegbert, not-so-princely cousin Shiro, girl crazy Soleil, and just plain crazy Rhajat. The group would be joined in time by the eccentric Ophelia, boy crazy Nina, fun-loving Selkie, daddy-devoted Velouria, and the most recent batch, among which included the yay-high apothecary currently dabbing Shigure with alcohol.
"Ssssth!" the artist seethed, his eyes stinging.
"Now now," Midori tutted as she tended to the unsightly gash on his arm. "Midori told you loud and clear that she has to disinfect the wound before patching it up. Maybe next time you'll think twice before blindly rushing into an onslaught of arrows all willy-nilly, mister!"
"I'm sorry big brother's such a dummy," said Kana as she peeked over her friend's shoulder. "It's your first day as a hero and you have to spend it cooped up in the infirmary!"
"Aww, I don't mind!" the chemist beamed. "Fixing people up is what Mighty Midori does best! Healing magic can only do so much, y'know? It'll heal you, sure, but it won't heal you! That's where my herbs and salves come in! Thirty five hundred years of ancient Hoshidan remedies can't possibly be wrong, heehee!"
Kana possessed no medical expertise to speak of, but that didn't make watching Midori work any less interesting. Though she loathed to admit it, the teeny herbalist was far more mature than she could ever hope to be at their age, a fact that was unconsciously reasserted each time she brought out the portable laboratory in her backpack. With as little as a simple, rudimentary concoction, she could have Kana spellbound and asking questions for hours. The herbs, chemicals, and other oddly colored, unlabeled, experimental mixtures were all very fascinating to the little dragon, even if she understood basically none of them.
"If I can have a say here," Shigure spoke matter-of-factly as Midori retrieved her mortar and pestle. "I did not 'blindly rush into an onslaught of arrows'. I, er, well, intentionally rushed in."
Midori was mashing the herbs she had gathered into a fine paste, his admission giving her pause. "Um, is that supposed make you sound less crazy?" she asked.
"W-well, when you put it that way, perhaps—but understand that I only rushed in so that I could reposition Kana! She had wandered into an enemy archer encampment without even realizing it, and by the time it became apparent that she had strayed too far, there wasn't anyone else close enough to her position to get her out of there in time. As her elder brother, I calculated the risks and decided to intervene at the cost of my own safety, and while it is true that the odds of myself escaping were in my favor from the start, I likely would have dove in for her regardless—"
"Uwaah!" Kana wept, always quick with the waterworks. "Please don't say any Shigure-y things while you're all bruised and beat up, big brother! It's scaring me!"
"S-Shigure-y things?" the boy stammered, unprepared for both that remark and the little fists beating on his chest that came with it. "I was merely relaying to Midori what had transpired—"
The apothecary couldn't help but giggle at Shigure's skittish attempt to ease his sister's tears. It was as though the three had never left their world in the first place. Though she was still getting situated within the Order of Heroes, Midori had a feeling she would grow used to things before long, especially if scenes like the one before her continued to unfold.
The fact that Askr was also home to an abundance of rare and uncommon herbs certainly didn't hurt.
"Okay Shigure!" Midori smiled, prompting Kana to gravitate back to her side without so much as a sniffle. "The salve is just about ready. I had to make a few substitutions for Hoshidan ingredients that aren't native to Askr, but it should work just the same!"
"It should work?" Shigure frowned. "Your lack of complete confidence is... concerning, to say the least."
"Are you trying to say Doctor Midori doesn't know what she's doing?!" Kana huffed. "How very... um... Shigure-y and teenager-y of you! As expected!"
"It's just a simple solution," Midori reassured with a wag of her finger. "Sure sure, it hasn't been tested with the ingredients I'm substituting in, but it's nothing too complex! Your wounds aren't too icky either, so that means if anything goes wrong with the recipe, it won't be all that bad because your condition was minor to begin with! Can you imagine if I tested this on someone in critical condition or in hospice, only for something to go horribly wrong with the medicine, worsening their condition?! I don't think I would be able to sleep at night!"
"I doubt that I'll be able to sleep well tonight after such a grisly mental image," Shigure said.
"All the more reason we fix you up lickety split!" Midori winked with her tongue sticking out. "As the first recipient of the Mighty Midori Super Salve, Askran Prototype Edition, your body's reaction will determine whether I go forward with mass production! As an apothecary, I have to do everything in my power to help my patients, even if it seems like they're beyond the brink of hope. If there's even one teensy weensy itty bitty little thing I can do for them that has an equally teensy weensy itty bitty chance of giving them a spark of hope, I have to do it! 'Cause that's what doctors are for! If I haven't exhausted every possible solution, if I haven't done everything I possibly could have done, then I've failed my practice, my patient, and myself!"
"Aaah, so cool!" Kana gushed, her hands clawing at her cheeks in suspense. "Ehehe, I bet thinking like that is what pushed you to find a cure for me that time I had a sore throat!"
"Exactamundo!" said the chemist with a flashy pose, which Kana was quick to imitate. "That's why finding a new Askr-friendly recipe for this salve is super duper important! The sooner it gets developed, the sooner I can use it to help treat the heroes here!"
"Did you hear that, big brother?" Kana gasped. "If this gunky herb-y gel makes you feel better, then Midori will be able to help everyone here that much quicker! The time to stop being moody is now!"
"That's quite an awful lot of blathering to convey your simple desire for a test subject," Shigure crossed his arms, only to let a smile slip through the cracks. "Though I suppose I cannot refuse if it's for the greater good. That, and I'm not sure I can endure another moment with my arm searing me so! Sssssth! Gods! It feels like it's been submerged in lava!"
"Wah?! Hang on, big brother! Senior Doctor Midori, Assistant Junior Nurse-in-Training Kana reporting for duty!"
It took a second for Midori to follow, but she was all in as soon as she caught the drift. "Huh? Oh! That was quick! I called you only a few minutes ago, nurse! Yup yup, the patient is right here. He's been scuffed something fierce by arrows and needs extreme medical attention, stat!I will apply the sacred life-saving salve, but I'll need you to assist me with the gauze and cleanup!"
"Aye aye, doctor!"
Her hands covered in balm, Midori pressed her palms to the gash on Shigure's arm, and if the Summoner heard any wailing as he passed by the infirmary on his way to the mess hall, he certainly didn't act on it.
Think fast! Forrest or Lilith chapter for next time?
