The following chapter is 100% original content.
Azure Shift
Chapter 0
Deus Ex Machina
Tonight was a bit warmer than usual for Medreth.
Not that I would really know, since I'm not even there at the moment. No, I get the moderate climate of this hut back home. It isn't that bad, but could be better.
As a trade-off though, you could see not just the twinkling stars but possibly other worlds as well. Oh, you're probably wondering what is even going on at the moment.
I am Seraph and I'm not entirely sure w-
Sorry me, but I need to be the one in charge at the moment.
Offscreen, the sound of a struggle could be heard. Not that it lasted long. Especially since the intruder had a pair of pistols and his opponent did not.
As my past incarnation was saying, I'm Seraph. I act as the guide for these numbskulls. Technically, we're from the future and went back because 'reasons'. It's complicated.
With that now out of the way, I guess that I should introduce them to you, the viewer. Think of this as a little sneak peek, rather than a whole-on reveal.
At this particular moment, a fairy flies up towards the sky, searching for something. For this particular occasion, she has chosen her nicest lilac pinafore with a jagged hem and a nice little peridot brooch right at the v-neck of the dress. A curved witch hat of similar color hangs within her long fiery hair, doing little to hide her violet eyes. Of course, that left just the violet-colored boots on her feet and the peridot orbs hanging from her ears. Finishing off the look was a swordstaff hanging on her back, which seemed to missed the memo the rest of the witch's outfit got. At the very least, the oak rod had gotten a couple peridots and embedded within.
That's Claire, the group's 'mage'. She technically a fairy, technically not. Like everything in Medreth it's a complicated mess. Sort of like how she keeps a clown girl n bed with any sort of consequences on her part.
"Mira honey, could you give me a reading of the barrier?" Claire called out and focuses her attention to the ground.
A silvery gray humanoid gives a wave from down below, pushing her long pink bangs out of the way. A pink and white quigao conforms to her body, matching her high heel boots to some extent. A golden bracer with a pink quartz crystal hung over her left arm, while a lotus flower sat comfortably in her hair. Finishing off her look was a magic wand of sorts and a pair of large almost catlike pink eye to gaze about on the world.
That would be Mira, the group's 'cleric'. Somehow, that jester managed to have her way and got someone down here. Why she needed someone to represent her is beyond me. Especially when there's already another version of her in Medreth to begin with.
"MIRA does not comprehend why Claire want to fly so high up." Mira responded, not at all noticing or hearing the sigh from her guardian. "It would possibly help MIRA if Claire gave an explanation."
As Mira said that, a 'zombie' approached. More specifically, a reanimated corpse of sorts. Strangely, he was dressed like one of those stereotypical English butlers that one would see in media. You know, the suit and trousers combo with the freshly shined boots and a decorative cane. Of course, the skin missing from his face didn't do much in the way of favors to his popularity.
"She does has a point, Claire." he remarked, trying to say it in the nicest way possible. But as usual, the witch did not hear the words of her teammates. Some days, I wonder if those stupid orbs hanging from her ears are just decoration and not an actual piece of medical equipment. Of course, my partner in crime would usually argue otherwise. Of course, she's off on 'break' with a friend of her. But that doesn't matter to you people, does it? After all, you were half expecting 'him' to be the one narrating this. Sorry for disappointing you, I guess? Stuff happened, but he made a plan to deal with it. Not the best plan mind you, but a plan of some sort.
Oh right. Introductions. That butler dude is Jake. He's somehow the leader of this posse. I would feel sorry for him (having been in that sort of situation before), but my pity ran up dry a long time. RIP Davis and Makoto.
"Who are you even talking too?" Jake inquired and got a sigh from offscreen.
Some goblins.
"You found some more?" someone announced, only to get
No, you fool! The readers, of course.
"Oh."
Jake turned around, finding a goblin messing around with a trampoline. Which wouldn't be so odd, if the trampoline didn't have a habit of making a squeak noise with each bounce. Or had a face on the side.
"Daniel,Sprinkles, I don't think that's going to work."
The goblin takes a deep breath, only to let out a string of chirps and hums. Somehow, this was more than enough to turn the trampoline into a catgirl. Her white fur seemed to glow brightly in the dark of the night, seeming to highlight her matching ballroom gown and opera gloves. A pair of heels clicked against the ground, while a small wagon followed right behind. Of course, a large parasol hung in her hands. Even if it wasn't needed at this particular moment.
Sprinkles serve as the group's merchant/manager. Can't speak a lick of English or even count properly. But somehow, she keeps everything together and on schedule.
The goblin on the other hand, was dressed in a set of full plate with that stain glass black cat gloriously emblazoned on it. He had a weird mustard yellow buzzcut, with a pair of blue eyes to tie it all together.
And that, would be Daniel, the tank/'healer'. And by 'heal', I mean transfer the damage to him. Yeah. That's just how his race is, I guess.
That just left one final member.
"It's ready."
The rest of the group turned around, finding a large covered wagon being manned by a red-skinned humanoid. A pair of orange slits observed them, while they take in his dusty jumpsuit.
"Sangran, do you think it's enough to pierce through?" Jake inquired and jumped into the wagon.
"What do you think?" Sangran whispered and leaned in towards the rogue. "Think of it like all those fun times we've had in the bed."
Yeah. That's Sangran, Jake's demon boyfriend thing. Don't get me started. But, he's good with machines and other bits and bobs.
With introductions now out of the way, Sangran pushed his detonator. The wagon shot off like a bullet, depositing them all into the sky near Claire.
"Now what?"
Claire didn't answer, choosing instead to just close her eyes and fall into the sky. Her companions followed her lead, finding themselves in Julie's makeshift arena. A white orb hangs over a familiar body, refusing to leave this place. Also, it would not seem that his companion
"Master, let this not be your end." Claire whispered and grabbed hold of the orb, slamming it back into the boy's body.
"It's been a long time." Cody remarked as his eyes opened, giving Claire a huge hug. "How are you holding up?"
The witch's face glowed a bright shade of red as her former master gave her a once over. He then got up, placing a hand on her back.
"Care to explain, Seraph?"
"It's complicated." a man announced and the azure crew turned around, finding your's truly, Seraph, before them. Of course, not even the author was expecting some dude in his twenties dressed in a black trenchcoat.
A green aura temporarily engulfed Claire, re-energizing her in the process.
"I can do that too." Daniel announced and got some questionable glances from his teammates. "What?"
Sprinkles let out a short whistle.
"Why of course I can."
Now, was when Julie noticed them and let out a laugh.
"Isn't that cute." the order leader taunted, following it up with a laugh. "You've already both died here once tonight. Do you really want to do that again?"
Cody rolled his eyes and pulled his rifle back out, only to find a katana in its place. Though, it was the sort that required both hands to wield.
"Why not?" he answered and charged towards his opponent, motioning for his newfound allies to follow. "I don't really have any-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Julie opened her mouth and let out a scream. Normally, this would be so bad. But there was something familiar about it. Maybe it was the sound or perhaps the feeling of dread that seemed to accompany it.
"Die! Die! Die!" Julie announced after she let forth her scream, fixating so much on Cody that she had not noticed Claire sneaking up behind her. The witch gave her opponent a slight tap and watched her opponent turn around.
"Now, who might you be?"
Julie got no answer as Claire pulled her swordstaff out, letting forth a gray wave of energy. At first, it didn't seem to have done anything beneficial, outside of getting the opponent wet. It was only when Julie tried to let forth her next round of screams did the true effects of the spell came clear.
Claire then fiddled with her earrings, only to hear a subtle click.
"Much better." the witch remarked and turned her attention to the rest of the group. "Sorry about that. I just didn't want history to repeat itself again."
Her teammates gave a nod, having already done their preparations.
"Are you assfucks done fucking about?" Julie remarked and gazed about the area, only to get a faceful of lead. "Just because you disabled my death scream, doesn't mean that it'll be a walk in the park!"
"Ha. They've faced worse."
"Let's hit this from the top then." Jake remarked and gave the ground a tap with his cane. "3…"
Their gazes focused in on Julie, who was currently making last minute adjustments
"2…"
The author carefully held his weapon out, making sure that he didn't stab himself in the process.
"1…"
The two forces met, more than ready to fight tooth and nail for not just the digitalverse, but for the future itself. Of course, it wouldn't be a final battle if 'Butterfly' wasn't playing full blast in the background. So it was.
With that, they charged forth. Jake and Daniel taking the front. Sprinkles and Claire made up the middle, while Sangran and Mira held the rear. And behind all of them, was Cody. Probably didn't help that his weapon wasn't one of those magical ones that reduced its own weight. But I digress.
"Oh great and powerful deity, hear MIRA's great wish." Mira chanted as her wand began to glow bright pink. "Bring forth a miracle upon this twisted woman!"
She gave it a couple waves, only for Jestery to appear. But rather than helping the poor android out, the jester decided that hugs were in order.
"Yay, it worked!" she announced to the world and began jumping up and down. "Jestery did it! Jestery di-"
Before Jestery could finish that sentence, Claire gave her a poke with her spear.
"Well you're no fun!" the jester announced.
"I get that a lot." Claire answered back and took a deep breath, watching Jestery bring forth a giant laser upon her opponent. "Sorry about that, Mira."
Mira gave her a shrug and began to pray once more, possibly for some other outcome.
While she was doing that, Jake was sneaking about and making marks on the ground. When he was caught, he did the natural thing in this situation.
"Now, you could catch us easier if you did some stretches."
You successfully provide the bimbo with useless advice. For some unknown reason, she actually goes through with it.
While Julie was doing what appeared to be an exercise program from the sixties, she was joined by Sprinkles.
"Begone, you ragged pussycat!"
Sprinkles did not take this insult lightly, throwing money at her opponent. And by that, I mean actual bags of money. I honestly don't get it either. But it did the job.
Which somehow turned out to be getting Julie to focus in on Daniel.
"I'm here, Sprinkles." the goblin announced and charged at the opponent, letting in any damage taken by his girlfriend flow into him. While painful, it kept Sprinkles in tiptop shape.
"You little…" Julie screeched and flung the goblin back, only to be greeted by turret fire. "Seriously? Fuck all of you!"
Sangran rolled his eyes, letting his focus return to the setup of a second one. Mira had stopped praying at this point, content with letting her mother run around and wreck her home. Any advice that Jake could give at this point would be rendered meaningless in Julie's angry haze. Mira had ran out of money to throw and was picking up the bags she threw. Finally, Daniel was just running around, trying to keep the order leader on his tail.
That just left Claire and Cody.
"Omega!" Claire announced and closed her eyes, focusing the energy inside her body towards her swordstaff. What came out, was a mix between a beam of energy and an explosive of some sort. It honed in on her target, making sure to not hit Daniel or Jestery in the process. But it was a futile act, with their opponent choosing to charge towards her. Yet, she readied her next spell.
"Shield." the witch answered and watched a barrier appear just in time.
"You little…" Julie snarled and turned her attention to the author. "You know what, let me end this."
She grabbed hold of the author, having forgotten about his blade.
"Time for you to die."
But, the the hilt of the katana had a different answer, especially when it collided with Julie's stomach and knocked her to the ground.
"Just finish me." the order leader called out and watched Cody shake his head. "Is this some kind of sick joke."
"Why should I let you die? You'll just fade away." he answered and took a deep breath. "That and it would be the easy choice."
He flung the katana to the far side of the arena and watched it pierce into the wall, shattering the border of the arena in the process. Outside, those still standing from the run through tower awaited.
"This is it! Let's finish this!"
Right as he said that, 'Butterfly' kicked off again. Louder and seemingly more epic.
Grand Unity: Denouement!
The result was a grand mess, the sort of a multiverse like this could potentially create. And maybe that was a good thing to some extent. It sure made for a beautiful show, especially when it came to the author's turn to deal the final attack.
"You get to live." the author remarked and tossed his blade to the side. "Now get out of here."
With that, Julie reluctantly complied.
"I guess this is goodbye then." Cody remarked and took a deep breath, focusing in on Claire. He gave his former partner a hug, slipping a key into her hands when she went to hug him.
"Will I see you again?" Claire inquired and Cody chuckled.
"Maybe." the author remarked and whispered something into her ear.
"How did you know?"
All she got was a giggle, followed by another whisper. With that, the witch broke and made her way to her friends. There, they faded away. Strangely, this included Jestery as well.
"Congratulations." a voice announced and a mist-like figure appeared. "You somehow brought an end to this mess."
"And that somehow wasn't part of your plan?" Cody remarked, getting a sigh in return.
"No, I was just hoping that you would go through with it."
The author shook his head and laughed.
"I've done more than enough stupid shit to last a lifetime." he remarked, letting out a deep breath afterward. "Gotten more than my fair share of second chances. Think of this as returning the favor."
"You dumb shit!" the figure announced and shifted forms, taking on a more solid state. "I hope you're fucking happy with all of this."
"I am." Cody answered. "This might sound hard, but you have to trust me."
'Jes' gives a scowl.
"Why should I trust you?!" the now apparent jester screamed.
"Because a better future awaits."
Silence fell over the area, with only a shake of the head acting as a confirmation.
"Jes is confused."
He let out a sigh and walked away, disappearing into thin air.
Notes:
Originally, this and the previous chapter were one long chapter. For the sake of editing and just flow, they've been split.
And to answer how the author knows, time and space aren't in sync in this part of the dream dimension. To answer your other question, who was that he was talking too, you'll have to wait and see. ;)
Finally, what did you think of the sneak peek?
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Next Time: Let's us say goodbye for now.