Chapter 46: Earned Life (Part 11)

"Damn the Clocktower, damn the Enforcers and damn this Enforcer in particular!"

Hissing out a collection of curses both inspired, angered, mystic and mundane as she sprinted through the streets of a South American town whose name she had honestly not even bothered to learn during her short stay within the Apostle kept her eyes, ears and nose on constant alert, waiting and watching for any possible sign of further pursuit.

She was fairly certain she had given her hunter the slip a few minutes prior but the bastard had already proven to be stubborn and ludicrously powerful. Not in an accomplished, ingenious or creative manner, no. The strange man had simply walked and ignored her protections, fields and guardian beasts as if they didn't even EXIST.

That wasn't how even the most accomplished of Enforcers would choose to invade her territory, simply allowing every defense and mystery she had concocted to strike them with impunity.

"No matter, I just need to find a way to ambush him through means that he hasn't yet expected."

Whispering to her collection of Walking Spider familiars they jumped off of her body and took up positions throughout the complex, awaiting her command to strike with already potent venom enhanced through her research.

With that taken care of she promptly tore a community gate off its hinges, smashing aside the nearest cheaply made door and picked the first Human she saw from its chair, a quick glance revealing it to be a startled and sleepy child.

Such was her speed that the Human's family - that had been scattered throughout a ratty living room watching television - took almost two entire seconds to react to her sudden appearance and taking of a hostage, jumping to their feet and jabbering away at her with their native language as she promptly silenced them by extending her nails and drawing blood from the trembling youth's neck, baring her fangs at the now petrified Humans.

"Stay silent."

They might not have understood her but they got the message loud and clear, tongues wetting their lips and bodies tense as they were kept waiting for no more than half a minute before audible footsteps approached their position, the Apostle restraining a shiver of apprehension as she spotted a figure dressed in simple pants, shirt and coat draw closer, ruby eyes glittering in the dim lighting as he pushed open the front door, gaze taking in the room at a glance-

"Now!"

-and her familiars leapt into action, a couple being crushed within powerful fists or splattered underfoot but a few managed to find purchase, sharpened pincers piercing the man's flesh and injecting him with lethal doses that would have killed a grown man in seconds.

The Apostle begrudgingly admitted that the odd male was a sight tougher than most other victims, breaking out into a cold sweat and violently retching as he collapsed in a shivering ball, lasting almost a minute before limply collapsing with a final, wet gurgle.

A smug smile that contained equal parts triumph and relief adorned the Apostle's features, carelessly tossing her shield aside as it clattered across a dining table with a cry of pain, approaching the downed Enforcer with her mind awhirl at all the possible uses she could glean from his corpse-

CRUNCH!

-and blinked, cluelessly looking downwards at the ivory bones originating from the man's body that had pierced her own in several places, head upturned as an annoyed snarl adorned his previously slack features.

"Gotcha bitch."

Painfully bright fire blazed to life, the Apostle opening her mouth to scream…and failed to do even that as an inferno reduced her to ash in the blink of an eye.

"Fuck. So much for my life of relaxation and vacationing. How did I get roped into this bullshit?"

Rising to his feet with a grimace as the last traces of whatever super poison the Vampire psycho injected him with were summarily purged Nanashi rolled his neck, unable to help the smirk that crossed his lips a moment later as glittering embers that were the sole remains of the Apostle drifted about.

And then said smirk faded as he saw the terrified and apprehensive looks of the family living in the low income housing he'd chased her to, the rest of the neighborhood coming to life with shouts and barking dogs as the homunculus locked a sigh behind his teeth.

"Right. This part."

Pulling out two Mystic Codes the first one was a simple tablet made of a material that he strongly suspected was flesh and blood but honestly tried to not think too closely about, holding it aloft and activating it as the drifting embers coalesced onto the code, forming a glowing network of twisting lines and pathways.

The portion of magic crest he'd been tasked to retrieve.

"Diablo…"

"Oh this is gonna be so much fun."

Grumbling to himself Nanashi found almost a dozen locals now surrounding him and the terrified family, their kid covered in bruises from where the Vampire had chucked him aside and no shortage of guns pointed his way.

Yeah, it was that kind of neighborhood.

"Alright I'm going to need everyone to take a look at this here medallion-"

Him raising the small golden coin that was Manaka's version of a memory erasing tool prompted a load of shouting, slides being wracked and rising tension as this time he didn't bother hiding back a sigh.

"Life of relaxation and vacationing my ass. Just another day in the life of an unwilling Enforcer."

Cheerful humming and irrepressible optimism filled the halls of the Clocktower as every level of Magus calmly but quickly cleared out of the walkways, gazes firmly locked ahead and doing their level best to pretend they didn't notice the young woman lazily skipping through the halls, arms folded behind her back and shining blue eyes alight with mischief.

A happy Manaka Sajyou was a dangerous Manaka Sajyou, one who wasn't above picking apart whoever had the misfortune of impeding her path, literally and figuratively.

Not quite as bad as an angry Manaka Sajyou but the notorious lecturer was best confronted in a mellow state of mind, where she was less likely to fly off the handle and eviscerate anyone who dared approach with bad or unwelcome news.

Her path was leading her towards the local Enforcer branch and the resident Magi were perfectly happy to leave her to them.

Said branch had its doors abruptly thrown open as the girl entered as if she owned the place, gazes of every kind sent her was by the half-dozen or so Enforcers present…and they all were just as quick to avert them, looks of annoyance at her entrance or lust at her beauty quickly shifting into ones of pointed disinterest once they recognized who she was.

And who she was here to see.

"For the last time YES I checked to make sure everyone had their memory erased! And who the fuck cares if someone slipped through the cracks, that was basically next door to some cartel if all the guns and dogs they had were any indication, they've got better shit to worry about than some weird stage magician that apparently blew up some weird crackhead in a second hand story."

"And the property damage?"

"Second verse same as the first, dude. Even the nice homes in that neighborhood were fifteen insurance plans deep. I don't-"

"Oh Nanashi~!"

All the onlookers pretending not to be onlookers observed with a familiar sense of dull disbelief as the doll-like young woman laced her arms around the pale man's neck, dragging him down so that she could place a long, heated kiss on his lips.

The famed 'Psycho Savant' of the Clocktower seemed to be in an affectionate mood today.

"Welcome back~! Did you get what the mission requested of you?"

"Yeah, I did. Have you given any thought to maybe making this Mystic Code of yours NOT be creepy and disgusting?"

Completely ignoring the homunculus' scowl of distaste Manaka happily accepted the fleshy tablet, examining the partial magic crest embedded within while sporting a pleased smirk.

"So who ordered the retrieval of that-"

Sajyou promptly motioned for the clerk Nanashi had been arguing with to hand over his payment, the Homunculus blinking as he received an envelope of money…that was signed and notarized by Manaka herself.

"Wait. You put out the word for this job?"

"Maaaaaybe~?"

Releasing a defeated sigh the youth asked, "Okay, I'll bite. Why did you go through the trouble of making this request in the first place as well as personally requesting for my help? I was busy elsewhere you know."

Haughty flipping pale blonde hair that fell to just below her shoulder blades - she knew he liked long hair but didn't like trying to emulate the other girls - Manaka promptly replied, "Because I never get the chance to see you anymore, Nanashi!"

Sputtering at the pouting words spoken with zero shame - he saw more than a few silently shaking shoulders among the other Enforcers - the male protested, "You see me plenty, Manaka! I'm never gone for more than a week."

"Hmph! Was it not four days in a row you have not even bothered to send word?"

"Yeah, but only because Tia needed my help in the Reverse-"

Cutting off his words as he stared at his partner's pouting expression the homunculus released a defeated sigh.

"Did you really spend all that money and put in a rush order JUST to see me again?"

The young woman idly twirled a lock of hair in her finger, demurely responding, "Well it was mostly a matter of killing many birds with one stone, as it were. Come, walk with me."

Before he could say otherwise Manaka had looked her arm through his, dragging him away from the counter as the clerk fruitlessly tried to protest that they needed to sign some form or another, the magus shutting the door loudly behind them.

"The Apostle was in need of eradication and you could always use more practice with your abilities. Furthermore said Apostle was a part of the Legara family whose youngest heir is in my class, learning the craft after her older sister - who you exterminated - stole part of the family crest and fled with it after she was deemed an unworthy successor."

"...What did they do to piss you off, Manaka?"

"Stop spoiling the end, Nanashi!"

A smack on the arm had him rolling his eyes, the blonde all smiles a moment later as she chirped, "It was truly a coincidence that the current heir is an uppity brat that thinks she knows better than I. A coincidence that I now control the remains of the family crest and may demand any and all forms of recompense from that little harlot~!"

A pink hue adorned the girl's features, breath coming fast and short as she murmured, "Perhaps have her sit beneath my desk for the day, kiss my feet and attend to my-"

"Fucking hell, Abigail is having a really bad influence on you. Look, you know I don't have any love for Magi but don't do anything too traumatizing, will you? You already have them by the balls, no need to include the shaft."

"Language! And besides, that was all secondary to seeing you again! Four days!"

"Only four days."

"Four days is a long time when I cannot speak to you."

Shaking his head as he gave up on trying to convince her otherwise the homunculus instead drew her closer to his side, the young woman preening at the action.

Most others would look at her behavior and warn that it was rampant jealousy, attachment and more than a little sadistic masochism mixed in, certainly not the combo one would imagine a healthy relationship being formed off of.

But then again he'd always known Manaka was a little fucking crazy. Hell, it was that craziness that had ended up saving his life, the unhinged girl taking notice of the forgettable and unimportant kid in the middle of the classroom where so many others wouldn't have bothered.

And the past three years had certainly been good to her, the magus not adding much height or curviness to her stature but becoming all the more elegant for it, a porcelain beauty of willowy proportions that seemed almost impossibly perfect, garbed in a simple blouse and long skirt that heightened her looks rather than detracted from them.

"Well, alright…if I'm here why don't you tell me about your past couple days of teaching?"

The beaming smile told him everything he needed to know about how that was the right thing to say.

The Outer Buffet was a rather sizable breakfast joint, not at all what one expected in the middle of Boston but the evidence was there before Nanashi's eyes, a sight that never failed to make him shake his head in idle amusement.

Instead he pocketed another one of Manaka's mystic codes that allowed one to seamlessly 'warp' between preset locations as he took in the atmosphere of the locale, one of excitement and happiness.

"Just the kind of place Abigail would want to be in charge of."

With that thought in mind he walked through the front door, bells cheerfully announcing his arrival as the girl in question chirped, "Welcome to the Outer Buffet, how many are-Nanashi~!"

Dressed in a cute outfit of pink skirt that came to her knees, white leggings, flats and professional button down Abigail managed to perfectly encapsulate both working charm and adorable attractiveness, Nanashi fighting hard not to laugh as she'd recently started adopting a Boston accent.

Which, coming from a girl as cute as her, was as jarring as it was endearing. Although the flying hug she employed was rather unfair, if one was to ask him.

"Hey, Abby. Sorry about dropping in unannounced, Manaka did Manaka things and I was feeling pretty hungry by the end of it."

Giggling as she released her hold on his waist the blonde replied, "No, that's perfectly fine~! C'mon, let me show you to a private room! Kassy? Can you watch the door for me? I have a VIP to see too!"

Before 'Kassy' could respond Abigail was pulling him deeper into the restaurant, a matronly woman taking up their position with a confused expression at the abrupt departure before they were deep in the building, chattering and conversing families or friends creating a comfortable buzz of background chatter that was soothing in a way he really couldn't describe, a few of the older patrons even waving to Abigail as she waved back.

"I take it everyone still thinks of you as the owner's daughter helping out her family?"

"Yup~! Haruki made sure the paperwork was perfect and no one is the wiser."

"...And no has tried anything funny with you?"

Abigail promptly pinched his ear, beaming as she said, "You don't think I could fight off a few perverts, Nanashi?"

Awkwardly glancing away the male grumbled, "Yeah I know, dumb question. Slipped out before I could stop it."

"And that's why you're so sweet, silly."

Before he could properly respond to that they took a shortcut through the kitchens, the male's eye twitching at the eternally bewildering sight. Namely that of completely normal humans working side by side with strange, otherworldly blobs of flesh, eyes and mouths that dexterously wielded tentacles to handle spatulas, pour batter, turn waffles and flip pancakes.

All while orders, jokes and eldritch grunts or gurgles accompanied steaming entrees or beeps of the kitchen machinery.

"I still don't understand how you managed to make this work."

"Well so many of the Outer Gods have this nasty habit of freaking people out and making them go crazy, but I thought that was pretty mean so I tried to do something in reverse."

She waved a hand, proudly stating, "Ta-da~! Sanity bolstering, not blasting~! I just made it so people from both ends of the spectrum consider different or unusual things as completely normal and unremarkable."

She stuck out her tongue, playfully rapping a knuckle against the side of her head.

"It's still a work in progress, it's mostly a bounded field sort of thing that doesn't extend too far past the kitchen…but it's a start~!"

Nanashi decided to not try and think about the implications of something like this, that an Outer God was casually and with the best of intentions making it so that cosmic horror and mundane reality were living side by side with no friction to be found. Instead he focused on how some of the cooks gave Abigail nods or shouts of greetings, one of the universal horrors releasing a noise like a chainsaw ripping through a tin roof as the blonde gave one of its tentacles a high-five.

"...You know maybe the Counter Force was right in that I never really stopped to consider the consequences of my actions."

Shaking off that thought as they left the kitchen and entered one of the private booths Abigail waited until he was seated-

-and straddled his lap, drawing him into a brief but deep kiss as the homunculus blinked at the sudden aggression, third eye now visible upon her forehead and shining with hues of red and pink as the blonde giggled at his flushed expression.

"Three years later and you still get all shy with me, Nanashi? You'd get into trouble for liking little girls~!"

A snort left the male, mumbling, "If we're going by simple number of years you're the predator here, Abby."

"Hey, no making fun of a lady's age!"

Smiling at the playful words he wrapped the girl into a hug as she leaned into the embrace, softly stating, "I'm glad I met you and everyone else, Nanashi."

Caught off guard by the sudden genuineness the male dumbly listened as she continued with, "If it wasn't for you I would still be the puppet of an Outer God, bargaining and suffering for every scrap of freedom I could find. Now? Now I can do all sorts of things, no matter how silly. I can start up a restaurant that's completely legal and supposedly run by someone other than me. I can go for a walk downtown without angry and frightened mobs trying to kill me. I can spend time with all of you, travel and eat as many different pancakes as I want!"

Nanashi found himself spellbound by the sheer earnestness in those three eyes, swallowing before awkwardly stating, "Well, you know…honestly I should be the one thanking you. Manaka and I weren't exactly the best at communicating with each other during our early days and if it wasn't for you bridging the gap we might not have ever been as effective together as we eventually ended up being. And it was for your sake that I truly understood just what I actually was, what powers I wielded."

He paused, suddenly at a loss for words.

"So, yeah…team effort?"

A small, genuine smile that made his insides feel gooey preceded Abigail whispering, "You can say really goofy things, Nanashi," before drawing him into a soft and loving kiss.

"...The service here is really good."

Laughing at his response Abigail hopped off of his lap, grabbing her notepad and pencil before teasing, "So what will your order be, Nanashi? Eggs? Waffles? Smoothie? Or perhaps…"

She spun on her heel, the wind picking up her skirt and allowing the wide-eyed young man to see what was beneath it.

Or rather, at what wasn't beneath it.

"Would you like me~?"

Employing the mana circulation technique Manaka had taught him the lethal terrain of the Reverse was summarily neutralized, internal combustion handily avoided as he took a deep breath of the painfully crisp and clean air.

People never really thought about how varied and choked with various scents the human world was until you got to taste something else.

"Welcome back, Nanashi."

Turning his gaze to where a familiar voice warmly greeted him the male smiled as Tiamat tenderly stroked the heads of a pair of Unicorns, the creatures warily eyeing him as they nervously stomped the ground with pristine hooves, a sharp contrast to the rest of their bodies. One had a lame leg while the other a chipped horn, both creatures deciding he was close enough before turning around and trotting away with irritated huffs, Nanashi wryly commenting, "I guess I'm no longer the pure little boy I once was, huh?"

"You'll have to forgive them, Nanashi. They aren't very receptive to strangers after everything they've experienced."

"Well if they reacted that way to me just imagine how they'd handle Manaka. Probably run screaming for the hills."

A brief giggle left the goddess as she strode forward to meet the homunculus, said artificial human finding his eyes unable to leave the sight before him.

The years and continual restoring of her power had caused Tiamat to quickly regain much of her old appearance, although she wasn't quite there yet. He'd undergone some growth himself regardless, the dragoness' increased height still leaving her a decent bit shorter than he was…although in certain 'assets' she had definitely shown some impressive maturing.

Said assets barely concealed by loose, flowing fabrics of light blue that drifted around her like seaweed in an ocean current, Nanashi reminding himself to keep his eyes above the neckline despite the provocative view down below.

He failed, Tiamat beautifically smiling at his attention as she drifted close to him, just close enough that her chest was lightly brushing against his own.

"That's not fair."

"Manaka could not wait, I assume?"

"You assume correctly."

He released a sigh as the goddess wordlessly took his arm in her own, leading the way further into her territory as he continued with, "Things are always tense and uncomfortable at the Clocktower, no matter how she may act. If I can make that situation a little more tolerable by appearing to work within its power structure like good little members of a secret society then it's a fair trade."

"And she also missed you, yes?"

"That too."

She hummed in idle amusement, leading him to a small rise that overlooked the valley/prairie combination that had originally been her prison before kneeling on the ground, patting her lap in a clear request for him to take up residence as the homunculus did so, eyes drooping as Tiamat's warm and soft legs combined with the events of the day abruptly caught up with him.

The Apostle hunt, Manaka's schemes, Abigail's flirting on top of the meal…while he wasn't really physically tired his mind was a whole other ball game, not used to the stream of activity even if he'd been getting acclimated to it.

"I'm happy that you're working so hard. You are living a life you should have been granted."

The motherly tone combined with a lap pillow and hair brushing courtesy of her fingers caused the young man to blush and awkwardly shift, replying, "W-well, you know, uhh…"

"Dammit, this is probably what not having a mom does to someone, huh?"

"So how are things going here anyway? You seemed pretty busy before I suddenly had to leave, did the Kappa I wrestled to the ground finally calm down?"

Playfully poking him in the cheek at his blatant changing of the subject Tiamat nonetheless humored his request, stating, "Everything is perfectly fine, Nanashi. Rambunctious and chaotic, but natural. See?"

She gently tilted his head to the side so that he didn't really have much choice but to overlook the sweeping vista and the various antics taking place within. A Dragon with a stumpy tail that looked like it had been bitten off and healed improperly stalked an old and graying Liger like it was a fascinating game, the cat clearly disgruntled by the attention but not bothering to correct its actions. Not far from that were a pair of Pergasi with ruffled and weak wings that were jumping and frolicking around a howling Barghast with three legs, the ghost dog either pissed or overjoyed at their actions, he couldn't tell which.

Which was the whole point of this little sanctuary, really. Tiamat was, at the end of the day, a mother and caring for the abandoned, lame or crippled beings of the Reverse seemed as natural a calling as breathing for the goddess.

"Ain't that rich? Me of all people referring to others as crippled."

"Soon I will have regained enough strength and control over my abilities to heal and renew those that fall under within my embrace. You have been very diligent in that regard, Nanashi~!"

Flushing at the teasing words in a way very different from when the others did it Nanashi reflected that Tiamat had certainly done her level best to milk him dry at every given opportunity. Sometimes with all the tenderness and grace of a calm ocean current, others with the fury and power of a typhoon that made him very happy his pelvis was constructed of durable materials.

But he relaxed all the same, letting the atmosphere and company lull him into a content daze as he murmured, "Thanks for letting me see this, Tiamat."

"Hmm? For what reason would I not?"

Blinking at the surprised cadence of the goddess Nanashi slowly replied, "Err, I thought this place was supposed to be a private and intimate kind of thing. Not really what you go showing off to everyone who might be interested-ow."

Pinching his ear with a mildly displeased expression the dragoness stated, "It is not. But you, Abigail, Manaka, Ayaka and even Gilgamesh are worth far more than a locale I may remake at a later date. Even if they are often so busy that visiting is difficult."

Deciding to hurry past his inadvertent slip up Nanashi said, "Yeah, I managed to meet up with Manaka and Abigail but they were all doing something or another. Same with Gilgamesh, actually. She wanted my help with one plot or another later in the night. Day. Whatever timezone I end up in."

"It's understandable. They are trying to plan your birthday celebration, after all."

"Never a dull moment, I sup-wait, what?"

Gazing up at Tiamat the goddess immediately averted her gaze, x-shaped pupils studiously examining the landscape as he asked, "Did you say birthday?"

"No."

"Okay you're not fooling anyone you clearly said-ow again."

Tiamat pinched his ear and puffed out her cheek in a gesture she absolutely learned from Manaka and Abigail, replying, "No one said any such thing."

"Okay, okay. Message received."

Letting his head collapse against her thighs the homunculus let his mind wander, wondering what was up with that while quietly murmuring, "But a birthday party? That's kinda weird-"

"Nanashi~?"

"Birthday party? Sorry, no recollection of anyone saying anything like that."