Author's Notes: This was due up yesterday, sorry about the delay, but after university I was really tired and while I had ideas, I was struggling to get them down into solid words. I probably could have done this last night, but I figured one, my creative flow would suffer if it was forced, and two, I'm supposed to enjoy writing this stuff, aren't I XD? Hehe, anyway, thanks again to all reviewers, although it seems there's a clog in the review system on the site right now, but whether your review is visible or not, I thank you. Oh and to Sin Oan, again I thank you for your feedback, I do intend to retain my author's control on the story, but all the same, feedback like yours can help me realise things I hadn't before and cause me to write differently of my own violation :).
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The next morning, and the trio stood once again in front of Matier's place of work. With slight trepidation that something might somehow go wrong, Reiko raised his hand and knock politely but firmly on the door.
He breathed a miniscule sigh of relief when nothing did, and behind the door could be heard the sounds of someone making their way towards it. A moment later, the door was opened, and Reiko looked down, as did Arson, although Zone still had to look up. "Ah yes, come on in" the very short old woman, Matier, waved them inside before anyone else could say a word, and figuring why not, they entered the building.
As the elderly sage closed the door behind them, Reiko, Arson and Zone had a chance to take in their surroundings. Not one of them could have said it was what they'd expected, even if they didn't know what they did expect. "I didn't expect this" Arson muttered, copying the author as he couldn't think what to say.
The room was sporadically lit and fairly cluttered, various paraphernalia sitting on shelves, occupying floor space or in some cases, hanging in curious fashions from the ceiling. All very typical makings of an elderly sage's abode, perhaps a slightly busy one, but it was the actual objects themselves that stood out as unusual.
Reiko saw a crystal ball, and it was a very good one, the genuine article. The thing that threw the vampire off was the very modern air conditioning unit it stood upon. Arson was peering with shrewd obliviousness at a wide-screen TV with a DVD rack besides it, which held a mix of blockbuster films and spell books. Zone meanwhile was staring at the wireless laptop balanced on the back of a golden statue of a dragon.
"Now, what can I do for you?" Matier asked, snapping them out of their curious inspections. The elderly sage was far too old and wizened to be surprised by a vampire, half-angel half-devil hybrid and hamster showing up at her door. She recognised a group of original characters seeking advice when she saw them.
A little off-balanced by everything they'd seen so far, it took a moment for Reiko to collect his thoughts. Just as he opened his mouth to reply though, he was cut off by none other than the Devil May Cry 2 theme tune. Rolling her eyes Matier stuck one hand into her robes, "Sorry, just a moment" she muttered quickly, and then proceeded to produce a state of the art mobile phone (with camera and all), which was the source of the sound. Flipping it open she said "Hello, who is it?", Reiko noticing for the first time the arcane looking staff she held in her other hand, as she gestured with it animatedly while speaking on the phone.
It was the unspoken agreement of Arson, Reiko and Zone that watching a short old lady wave an arcane staff in one hand, while arguing into a sleek, cutting edge model phone in the other was perhaps the strangest sight they'd seen so far. The three watched with confused, bemused and amused expressions respectively as Matier abused the caller, haggling over a delivery of holy water and blank RW-CDs.
Finally some kind of agreement was met, and Matier hung up on the caller, claiming a valuable moral victory over the evil delivery companies she battled daily. Turning back to her guests, she said "Sorry about that, the delivery companies around here are the devil themselves", speaking of Despair Ltd. Deliveries.
The silence that followed was awkward to approach, much like tap-dancing on jelly could be considered awkward to approach, none of the trio knowing quite what to say. In the end Zone did what he so often did, ill advised or not, and spoke his mind. "You're not exactly the classical sage image" he remarked cheekily.
In a flash, the aged staff whipped out and the cocky hamster got one smart bonk on the head. "You're not exactly the classical tyrant image" Matier retorted, returning her staff to her side, once again unthreatening.
Reiko and Arson stared on first in mild alarm, then confusion, and finally concealed amusement as Zone rubbed his head, wincing slightly from the blow. "How did, you know?" he asked, half annoyed and half unsure, for while he liked to boast, he greatly doubted Matier had heard of his small reputation as a tyrant.
"That's not important…" Matier answered simply, "What's important is that you've come here to ask for my advice on something, now, what is it?" she asked, staring from Zone to Arson to Reiko expectantly.
Reiko stared back in surprise, "How did you know?" he asked, earning a scornful scoff from Matier.
"Give me some credit lad, I'm old but I'm not daft, why else would you be here, to sell me death insurance?!" she shot back sharply, being a busy woman and wanting to just get down to business.
For those wondering, death insurance is a concept invented by, funnily enough, a vampire, for those worlds where death is not such a final absolute. The basic concept is that if, like its inventor, someone can return after dying to personally collect their claim, they can come into a great deal of wealth to offset whatever disadvantages their new existence might include. It's a thriving business thanks to the fact that a lot less people return from the grave than plan to, ensuring that company profits rise every time a customer fails to.
Reiko nodded dumbly and accepted that she had a valid point. "Oh, well…" he paused, about to say they were here to ask for her advice, but by the look on her face she wouldn't stand for such repetition. Taking a moment to recompose his thoughts, he continued "We're here to ask how we can defeat Mary Sue, please".
Matier's face darkened and an expression of concentration crossed it, "Ah, yes, Mary Sue" she said, her tone entirely serious. Walking forwards between them, rubbing her chin thoughtfully, she muttered "I've heard about her taking over the Devil May Cry 3 fandom, dark times, these are very dark times indeed".
Reiko nodded in agreement, and looked from Matier to the crystal ball, imagining the wise woman snaring the distant truth from the ether with mystic rituals. Matier noticed the vampire's expression, and what he was looking at, and shook her head, "No, I used that" she said pointing, Reiko turning to see the laptop.
The vampire's expression fell into something between surprise and disappointment. "You used the Internet?" he said, sounding like a child who had just been told the Santa Clause whose knee he'd sat on year after year was Enzo putting on a fake voice, trying to make a few bucks to buy a girl for Christmas.
"When the Heavens split open or the bowels of Hell shift supernaturally, lad" she explained gruffly, "I use my crystal ball. But when the problem is invading the soil of Earth, there is no greater oracle than Google".
Reiko winced, and although he was an immortal vampire, there was something about Matier that made it impossible for her not to be your elder. Nodding shyly, he hushed up and let her resume her contemplation.
A few moments of silence passed, and then the head of the Vi Du Marli clan of protectors spoke. "Mary Sue is a very basic yet very powerful entity, she could be considered a quasi-elemental. She feeds on fiction and gives nothing in return, rendering her a parasite, but what makes her uniquely dangerous is how difficult to exterminate she is. Canon characters rarely stand a chance, as the very plots that imbues them with so much of their power are what Mary Sue manipulates to gain hers, chaining a story by imposing ancient arcs of development. This means all but the most distinct stories will be subdued by her, and canon characters will find themselves fighting her in her element. Meanwhile, while original characters don't suffer from this, without an established plot themselves, they are often not powerful enough to defeat her".
Matier paused to let the others absorb this, aware that too much information at once could be confusing. She herself was familiar with these facts, and was fairly sure they knew most if not all of them too. But it was vital they fully grasped all that they implied, namely that when you fight Mary Sue, you fight a world.
"So she can't be beaten by anyone?" Arson asked shyly, not wanting to get whacked on the head like Zone.
Matier gave him an understanding look, "No, she's not invincible" she replied, "Mary Sue is a parasite, her power is stolen from the world and where possible, even the characters around her. To face her is to do battle with an entire story, or at least what parts of it she has successfully manipulated. There are not many powers greater than this, and even fewer that are available to the likes of you or I, however there are some."
"How do we gain the power to stop her?" Reiko asked, signifying they didn't want power for power's sake.
Matier looked at each of them in turn, weighing their worthiness to wield such knowledge. After several moments, she decided they could be trusted, "Very well, I will tell you" she said, all eyes and ears on her.
"Characters define themselves through their surroundings, most of all through each other. The individuality any one character, canon or otherwise, can wield is minimal with nothing to interact with. Friends, enemies, tragedies and miracles, memories and dreams, characters have strength within themselves, but they nurture it through others. Mary Sue wields the power of stories, and the only way to match this power that you might attain, is through each other. Only together can you hope to defeat her" Matier explained to the trio.
The silence that followed didn't last very long this time. "Oh come on, so we just all cuddle and defeat her with the power of love?" Zone cried in disbelief. He was swiftly rewarded with another thwack to the head.
"Don't be ridiculous" Matier reprimanded the rodent, who was now rubbing his head and staring daggers at her, "Doing so would only play into Mary Sue's hands. It is not about love, or hope or any single concept, it is about your identities. You each possess a unique personality, but it is through relating to each other that those personalities gain definition and integrity. Every time you disagree with one another, surprise one another, learn from one another, you share the strength in yourselves and become stronger. This extends to all aspects of your existence, even in battle. Pretending to all get along perfectly will solve nothing, it is only by embracing the differences between you, recognising your disagreements and distinct qualities and flaws, that you can hope to attain the power to defeat Mary Sue. You must fight together, as yourselves".
Looking from rodent to vampire to hybrid, the elderly sage could see that doubt riddled their resolve. Even if they grasped the principle, it was not something that could be simply done. It required a fine balance and understanding to embrace qualities in someone else that conflicted with ones that you yourself possessed.
Moving to one of the piles of documents littering the room, Matier rifled through it. "Listen, take this" she said, producing an old, battered map and handing it to Reiko, who thought, old maps, this was more like it.
"Thank you" he said with a smile, which turned into a pout as Matier offered him a GPS device as well, the vampire feeling that it spoiled the atmosphere. Rolling her eyes, she bent down and gave it to Zone instead.
"Those will lead you to a dungeon, if you are able to navigate it, you will have developed a strong enough bond between the three of you to battle Mary Sue" Matier explained, snatching a holy water from Arson's hands and placed it back, "I can tell you this, fight together. The rest you must understand for yourselves".
Thanking her in their various ways, the trio left, Reiko with the map, Zone with the GPS and a mild headache, and Arson with nothing as he would probably try to eat it. Matier closed the door behind them.
"Well, I guess we go this way" Reiko said after a moment, looking at the map and pointing up the street.
Zone hesitated, "Are you sure this is for real?" he asked, not entirely convinced about Matier's assertions.
Reiko gave a shrug, "I don't know, but it makes a kind of sense. When we do face Mary Sue again, it will just be us against her. Perhaps the only way to win is to find the strength in ourselves, through each other".
"Plus we get a dungeon all to ourselves" Arson added optimistically, very certain of the fun that entailed.
Zone considered this, and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're right" he said, equally sure of the entertainment a good dungeon offered. "It's worth a shot, and I'm itching for a fight" he added, smiling enthusiastically.
And so, they set off to find this dungeon, learn how to harness their potential through each other, and truly work as a team. Reiko led with the map, Zone aided with the GPS, and Arson trailed, saying "I'm thirsty".