Chapter 29: Ascension (Part 7)

"Don't think about last night, don't think about last night, don't think about last night...shit, I'm thinking about last night."

"Incredible...I never thought the day would come when such an incredible feat of thaumaturgical engineering borne from some of the world's greatest minds would grace my eyes...and yet here you stand, Nanashi."

"Well, sit, more like."

They had made the trek to Manaka's house in the morning, Nanashi feeling like he very much understood the concept of 'walk of shame' every step of the way. Sure, he hadn't exactly done anything wrong but the night of debauchery and physical bliss he'd experienced under Abigail and Tiamat's care had left him feeling positively divine. And that in turn made him feel a little bit bad since there had been a sort of unspoken and implicit understanding that his first night of passion would be with Manaka and no one else.

"And isn't that a strange and foreign thought? That my love life would be so inundated with girls that I have to make a freakin' tier list."

"Nanashi?"

"YES?!"

Jumping in his seat as Manaka's clear and concise tones tore through his consciousness the homunculus was greeted with a room full of stares, Tiamat, Ayaka and Haruki giving him head tilts while Manaka was arching an impatient eyebrow, Abigail probably the only one who knew where his thoughts had resided if her teasing smile was anything to judge by.

...He didn't regret freeing her from her Sut'Typhon's control. He was starting to wonder if he might regret letting her know that he didn't mind fulfilling every one of her perverse little desires.

"Well, there are worse things to regret."

Not letting so much as a hint of those thoughts surface he cooly met Manaka's suspicious gaze, commenting, "Sorry, I was spacing out there for a second. What did you ask, Haruki?"

The man seemed bemused for a moment before more seriously stating, "I was less asking something than I was merely speaking idle thoughts. Not only you and your body - which consists of such a strange mix of mystical elements that I wouldn't even know where to start - but also miss Abigail and Tiamat, who are existences who we have no prior example or record to reference."

This time his smile was more genuine.

"I daresay that any magus alive would give a great deal to even breathe the same air as you three. My daughter truly does pick the most interesting of friends."

"You haven't felt anything wrong with yourself or your body yet, Nanashi? Everything feels normal?"

Grinning at Ayaka's question the youth flexed his arm, responding, "Normal? No. Better? Absolutely."

Haruki's gaze traveled once again to where Tiamat was calmly sitting, commenting, "It's been quite some time since anyone has seen a deity of any kind, never mind one as old as yourself, Lady Tiamat. And to even go so far as to aid my daughter and his companions?"

His head shook itself in idle bemusement.

"It truly does seem to be a time of new paradigms…"

To everyone's surprise Tiamat stretched a finger outwards, pointing to Nanashi's navel as she slowly stated, "Not, as powerful...to help, him."

Feeling the markings of the goddess on his stomach flare slightly as if in response to their originator's attention the homunculus couldn't help but squirm slightly in embarrassment, Manaka seeing his reaction and pouting at it.

"Well I'm just happy that you succeeded, Nanashi. You probably couldn't tell, but..."

An uncharacteristically teasing tone entered Ayaka's cadence.

"Big sister was moping and crying a lot while you were busy preparing your new body with Merlin's help."

Retribution was as swift as it was indignant, Manaka pulling and pinching Ayaka's cheeks as she protested, "There is little need for this lying mouth to spread such deception, now isn't there? Isn't that right, little sister~?"

"Youwf jast prwovin ma point!"

Speaking past her stretched lips the siblings continued to argue, Nanashi highly amused by the unusual scene as he turned to face Haruki, the man also smiling at the sight...although his cheer regretfully shifted into business before asking, "And what are your plans now, Nanashi? You achieved something incredibly unique and unprecedented in our history, something I would have never thought possible. But the fact remains that you must decide what to do with this new life."

"Yeah, tell me about it…"

Falling silent for a moment the homunculus eventually replied, "Well I've got a number of projects I need to start working on but in all honesty I kinda need a day to get everything straight in my head...there's a lot to consider."

The older man nodded in acceptance, nonetheless stating, "Understandable...but bear in mind, not all in the Moonlit world will wait for you. There are those who will see your power and abilities and either be frightened of them or wish to exploit you."

The man's features softened somewhat.

"The Fourth Magician inhabiting a custom-made homunculus body. A young lady who for all intents and purposes now exists as an Outer God. An ancient goddess from Sumerian times...and my daughter, one who is connected to the Akashic Records on a very intimate and intrinsic basis."

Manaka's reaction to that admission was just as visceral as everyone else's, since it had never really been a topic of conversation or openly stated fact among the Sajyou's.

"Papa? You...you knew?"

Ayaka also looked surprised, staring at her sister with wide eyes as the girl's father offered an apologetic smile of reassurance.

"I suspected. As flattering as it may have been to believe a young lady of your intelligence and talent had been birthed by a union of both your mother and I...you were a bit too brilliant. Add in the circumstances of your mother's demise, your continuously growing repertoire of abilities and there seemed only a few plausible explanations."

Manaka shrank in on herself at the mention of her mother, appearing every bit the frightened and worried young woman she chronologically was-

-and Haruki gently brushed her cheek with his hand, reassuringly stating, "I do not blame you for any of this, my daughter. Nor do I wish for you to be ashamed of who you are."

A more melancholy expression appeared on his features, tone soft as he continued with, "It can be a difficult thing, to be both a Magus and a father...but I now wish I had been more of the latter, to provide you with the familial understanding and acceptance you only truly received when you met Nanashi and everyone else."

His eyes turned towards the quiet homunculus, trying to remain silent and unnoticeable in his seat alongside Tiamat and Abigail.

"You have all given me more than I could have ever imagined...you brought meaning back into my daughter's life when I had failed to do so. You would have not met her previously but you would likely not recognize the girl back then to the one before you now."

Feeling a little awkward - and even slightly jealous of the familial concern and bonding on display - Nanashi went for a joke to cover up his unease, stating, "I bet. Would the old Manaka have cried and sniffled like she is now?"

"I-I'm not crying, stupid Nanashi! Hmph!"

A desperate and completely pointless turning of her head didn't do anything to hide the glistening in her eyes or quaver in her voice, tone uncharacteristically vulnerable as she gazed at the thus far silent Ayaka, hesitantly asking, "Do...do you feel the same way, little sister?"

The brown-haired young lady was silent for a time, staring wordlessly at an increasingly agitated blonde...and promptly held Manaka's hand in her own, softly stating, "Of course I do. There's only one sister I have in this world and you're it. Even if you are sometimes a bully. And on that note…"

Hand holding seamlessly switched into cheek pulling, the normally demure and meek Ayaka fiercely squeezing her sibling's cheeks as she greedily noted, "This is for years of abuse, sister!"

Bright blue eyes widened in disbelief and betrayal at Ayaka's assault, Manaka returning the onslaught in clear indignation as both girls devolved into violent cheek on cheek violence that gave off the impression of cute hamsters locked in a mortal death battle.

Thankfully Haruki got the conversation back on track, watching the show with significant interest and humor before stating, "You understand what I'm warning you of, yes? All of you represent a hitherto unknown and unprecedented concentration of power that none in our secluded community have ever witnessed before and such things will be met with suspicion, caution, coercion and perhaps even hostility."

His eyes narrowed somewhat, frustration clear to see as he continued with, "It shames me to admit but no established organization of magi will ever be able to look at the four of you, at what you represent and ever feel safe or secure, no matter what your intentions may be. The only safety and security they shall know is when they have a check or means of restraint they can bring to bear."

Nanashi sighed, grumbling, "Yeah, Merlin said more or less the same thing. It's a pain in the ass is what it is."

"I suppose I'll be content with having the same train of thought as one of the most powerful magi in known history."

Haruki's idle musings caused Nanashi to wryly grin, said grin quickly disappearing as he explained, "All I know for certain now is that I need to practice with the Fourth Magic, the Counter Force pulled me in for a meeting and said that while it was willing to cut me some slack I still need to get a better handle on that power, considering how much damage and trouble it can potentially cause."

The homunculus was greeted with complete and utter silence, Abigail and Tiamat giving him expressions that said he'd clearly stepped in it again, all while being totally unaware of the fact.

After all, it took a special kind of statement to make the Sajyou's - all of them - look at him with blatant horror.

"Nanashi, why did you not mention something like that, you dullard?!"

Blinking at Manaka's minor freakout the homunculus quickly protested, "Because it wasn't anything too important or dangerous that needed to be brought up immediately! I've got time to work with here, it's not like the kind of deadline I was dealing with previously."

The doll-like girl gave him a look that suggested she wanted nothing more than to wring his neck as Ayaka stammered, "T-t-the Counter Force itself?!"

Abigail decided to step in and peaceably raise her hands, commenting, "I would not worry overmuch, Nanashi doesn't seem very concerned with things and he should be a good judge of how much concern we should share, yes?"

Tiamat smiled and nodded in agreement, Manaka dully meeting their expressions.

"Am I perchance the only one who remembers the time he deliberately made our quest in the Reverse all the more difficult because the silly boy decided growing a bleeding heart was a good idea?"

To Nanashi's dismay both Abigail and Tiamat seemed to consider their friend's words, the homunculus quickly jumping to a new topic of conversation as he asked, "Isn't there anything we can maybe do to get people to back off? What about the other Magicians, don't they do anything special?"

Haruki shook his head, replying, "The Kaleidoscope and Blue are unique cases, magi who's personal power, influence and pedigree affords them immunity to those who would seek to control or bring them low. That's how many of the most powerful beings in the Moonlit world survive, after all. Be so terrifying and lethal that most who would prefer to exterminate or enslave them do not dare to do so."

"Oh. Well, maybe we could try that? I could erase a building in the Clocktower or something, I don't exactly have too many fond memories of that place."

Manaka shook her head, dryly commenting, "You do not have the resolve to act as a Beast of Gaia or Ultimate One of Mercury, Nanashi."

The homunculus blinked, broadly asking, "Sorry, what was that about an Ultimate One? Don't tell me, let me guess. Another crazy damn monster of the Moonlit World?"

Abigail nodded, explaining, "Much like how Earth's planetary consciousness is Gaia, so is Mercury's the ORT. And Gaia called for the other planets - the Aristotles - to come and exterminate humanity...although TYPE-Mercury was a number of millennia early, for some reason."

Nanashi blankly stared at the group, noting with interest how Tiamat seemed to bristle at the mention of the thing before he released a long-suffering sigh.

"I bet Pluto has a bone to pick with Humanity, then. And what's next? The moon also wants to murder everything?"

The fact that the Sajyou's seemed like they were best trying to decide how to explain what he'd intended as a joke caused the male to dully reply, "On second thought, I don't want to know. I'm happier that way."

Haruki nodded in agreement with Nanashi's perspective, offering, "Things are not all doom and gloom, thankfully. I have a number of old contacts and acquaintances within the Magus Association and we might be able to work out some manner of deal."

His features took on a more humorous tinge, "I suggest you begin working on some variety of project or presentation to show to the world at large if it becomes necessary, as nothing silences doubtful or overly ambitious thoughts than an undeniable show of force."

The homunculus nodded in understanding, pausing for a moment before giving Manaka a thoughtful stare, prompting a head tilt in turn.

"You know...why don't we start that now?"

"This idea seems highly unlikely to work, Nanashi."

"And yet I hear you being quite excited about it, Manaka."

Everyone sans Haruki - seeing as he had a number of letters to write and send - had convened outside, Nanashi appropriating a number of notebooks and other things for use as they lounged outside, enjoying the shade of the trees as a light breeze flowed.

"Okay, remember how I promised you that I'd one day come up with a book that you could read with no spoilers?"

"Yes?"

The homunculus proudly smiled as everyone stared on with blatant interest, the male announcing, "Slight change to the plan, instead of me doing all the work it's going to be a group effort. Something Abigail, Tiamat and Merlin mentioned way back when gave me an idea, mainly the bit about Nexus Personas or whatever."

He excitedly gesticulated, enthusiastic about sharing his discovery as he further stated, "I thought they would be bombarded with an infinite and completely untenable amount of memories but you all said that the infinite multiverse wasn't infinite all at once, right?"

Abigail and Tiamat nodded, not yet sure where he was going with this.

"So that got me thinking, if the multiverse is infinite and full of endless possibilities and Manaka is connected to the Akashic Records of it...shouldn't she be able to know essentially anything, no exceptions? Even if I were to use my eyes and Magic an infinite number of universes would obviously provide a replacement for the erased bits in the blink of an eye."

The first inklings of understanding appeared in the youth's company, his grin supremely smug as he replied, "That all taken into consideration it's clear there's some kind of limit to things, that the universe operates under some kind of visibility threshold or something weird like that. The Schrodinger's Cat of reality or some other woo woo concept. Unless we do something to acknowledge or interact with other realities, they technically don't exist."

Manaka plopped her chin into her hands, idly asking, "And what would this have to do with my ability to enjoy literature?"

"Glad you asked. Ayaka, Abigail, Tiamat? Mind writing a short story for me? Doesn't have to be crazy long or anything, just something original we can use in a couple minutes."

His companions - while still lost as to what his ultimate goal was - nonetheless eagerly got into the swing of things, gathering around a notebook before they began furiously whispering and comparing ideas, Manaka affixing Nanashi with an arched eyebrow.

"You seem quite confident in how the universe works."

"I'm not confident in the slightest. But I'm also willing to try things if I can fulfill one of the few promises I made to you."

A cute and maidenly hue of pink appeared on the magi's pale skin, cheek puffing in embarrassed indignation as she groused, "Hmph! You barely managed to keep the first one."

"Yup, although in all fairness it was kind of a doozy, wasn't it?"

Rolling her eyes at the vast understating of things the duo settled into an amicable silence, Manaka trying to squeeze an answer out of her companion with, "So how do you intend to put that debatably effective brain of yours to-"

"Ah ah ah, Manaka~! You get to wait just like everyone else."

Another bout of ferocious pouting was the youth's reward, Nanashi leaning back on the grassy lawn with a content, peaceful sigh.

"Never thought something as simple as this would feel so good."

Dozing for what was anywhere between fifteen or twenty minutes he snapped back to full awareness as Abigail tapped him on the shoulder, happily smiling as she held up a simple notebook titled, The Princess and the Chimera.

"Well I wonder what that's based on."

"I know, right? It's a mystery~!"

Grinning at Abigail's infectious enthusiasm he handed the book to Manaka, stating, "Can you make a copy of that without looking inside? Some kind of autonomous spell that will copy what's in there?"

Appearing more intrigued than ever the blonde did as requested, briefly heading inside before returning with some kind of printing press Mystic Code thing, setting it down as Nanashi said, "Have it change the title when copying it, if you can."

Giving the homunculus a calculating stare the order was nonetheless carried out, the trinket rapidly clicking and scratching as it made an exact replica of the original tale with a brand new title that read...Title.

Maybe not the most imaginative of rebrandings.

Nonetheless the task was finished in short order, Nanashi feeling a ball of anticipation settle in his gut as the group convened around Manaka, holding the two variations and affixing the homunculus with an excited look.

"Alright, here we go."

He removed both books from the girl's hands, affixed his gaze on The Princess and the Chimera-

"Noli Esse."

-and whatever it was he'd been holding in his hand was obliterated from every plane of existence without exception, everyone blinking at the strange shift in perception as Nanashi asked, "Just to be sure, I was holding something a moment ago, right?"

Everyone nodded.

"Okay, well...here we go. Open up that book, Manaka. We'll see if this little experiment bears fruit and the sacrifice of the forever unknown title was worth it."

Fingers trembling slightly in anticipation - everyone else leaning in with rampant curiosity - Manaka brought the book up, staring at the title with an unblinking gaze for seconds and then minutes, no daring to so much as breathe as the only sound was the rustling of the garden and shifting breeze...and with a sudden gasp Manaka broke out into a cold sweat, blood dripping from her nose and eyes as veins stood out in stark contrast to her pale skin, toppling over as Nanashi yelped, swiftly catching her as the doll-like girl took deep, ragged gasps of air.

"What the f-did you really need to go that far, Manaka?"

She didn't seem to even hear his disapproving tone, dazedly staring at the book as blood stained her pale skin and immaculate dress, distantly whispering, "I...I couldn't find its existence anywhere."

A crimson grin tilted her lips upwards, bloodshot eyes glittering with mad joy as she ripped open the simple cover and began devouring the pages at a frantic pace, Nanashi slowly sitting her upright as everyone waited with bated breath for the girl's final verdict.

It wasn't long in coming.

"Hmm, even for a short twenty minutes of work it needs additional refinement. Spelling errors, the plot is generic and the ending is infantile. If you are to be writing these stories for my perusal in the future they will have to be of a higher caliber."

There was a few wry and let down expressions, Ayaka pouting as she grumbled, "That's not very nice, sister."

At least until aforementioned girl bowled over her sister, squeezing the life out of her as everyone else blinked, Ayaka wheezing pitifully as a low, thrilled giggle escaped Manaka's lips that quickly grew into raucous laughter, the magus going around the circle and hugging the life out of everyone as Nanashi and Abigail exchanged bemused looks, Tiamat simply happy to accept the embrace.

"I can read...I can read! I could read the story and I didn't know how it was going to end!"

Manaka began to skip around the yard, joyously giggling as she hugged the book to her chest, uncaring of the blood upon her skin and clothes and constantly singing with euphoria, the sight bringing smiles to everyone they had no way of stopping.

"I think we did something very important today, Nanashi."

"That we did."

Abigail laid her head on his shoulder, both watching their companion run and leap with unfettered happiness as Ayaka asked, "But...how did you know that would work?"

"Oh I didn't know shit. But I had a hunch."

Proud of himself for figuring out this one that made Manaka so insanely excited the homunculus explained, "It was the same thing as the whole 'infinite universe but not all at once' deal. You three created a story that was original to only you, then we created a copy that no one saw the inside of but changed the title."

He grinned, especially pleased with the next stroke of brilliance. Or bullshit, either or.

"Since it seems I was right about the whole Schrodinger's Cat deal once I erased your original story - rest in peace, work we don't remember - all that was left was the copied one...except none of us knew what was inside, because the title change technically made it a separate work."

He motioned to Manaka.

"Lo and behold, a story that we constructed but no one knew about, no information about it to be found in the Akashi Records until Manaka read it for the first time."

Ayaka giggled at his ingenuity, the group amusedly watching Manaka frolick wildly until she inevitably calmed down.

A good two hours later.