RFY - Chapter 9 - A New Reality

An incredible amount of light shot into Amelia's eyes. She felt energy surround her and flow into her. However, it didn't burn or hurt at all. The color of the light shifted through every color she could imagine, including some she couldn't. The light got brighter and the energy got stronger. It was amazing.

Then suddenly, as soon as it started, it all stopped.

The feeling of pavement returned to her hands and knees. For just a moment, she thought that time had simply fixed itself. But when she looked up, Ina wasn't there. The street she was on also looked a little different. The sidewalk and road were in a worse state than when she'd left.

She picked herself up off of the ground and looked around. A few people looked at her funny, but continued on their way. Eventually, Amelia decided to walk towards where Ina's apartment would be.

The longer she walked, the more small differences she noticed. Some places looked nicer, while others looked more worn down. A few buildings were completely different from what she remembered. She had the distinct feeling that when she got to Ina's apartment, that her friend wouldn't be waiting for her.

Sure enough, there was no one named Ina anywhere in the building. Amelia had asked around a little and only got some funny looks along with "no's".

The realization slowly descended on her.

She was in another timeline. One far and away from her own.

Why was she here? What happened to her own timeline? How was she going to get back? Should she look for Gura? What about her parents? Did she exist here or was she a brand new person?

A million and a half questions flooded through her. They threatened to overwhelm her, but she pushed through the endless sea of them to get to the one that mattered the most right now.

What was she going to do next?

She needed to survive, so she made her way over to the local police station. She asked them about someone named Amelia Watson. She was met with confused looks and "I don't know who you're talking about, miss". The rest of her family's names were met with the same reaction.

So she probably didn't exist here. At least she wouldn't need to worry about running into herself. She thanked the officers and made her way over to a nearby gas station.

She went up to an ATM that was sitting near the entrance and tried the cards she had on her. Just as she expected, none of them worked. Getting a job was now the top priority she had. Unfortunately, money was a necessity to survive. She could probably lie her way around identification stuff for now.

And that was exactly what she did. A person named Amelia Watson soon sprang up and applied to all kinds of jobs. During the time she spent on the street, she slept on benches and got food from food pantries. Occasionally she would "borrow" something from a store without the intent to return it. She hated doing it, but many times it was either stealing or starving. She chose the former.

A couple months turned into a couple years. Time moved by Amelia while she remained almost physically the same. It was honestly a relief that she never needed to cut her hair or shave since her body wasn't aging.

She quickly also noticed just how destabilized she really was. Creating a third arm was no issue. Hell she could make five if she focused a little. She could phase through objects with ease and interact with something on the other side. She definitely didn't use this to take some money from an ATM at one point.

It was nearly three years later before she finally landed a semi-stable job and a non-total-shithole place to live. Everything seemed to slowly begin to move in her favor.

But normal isn't something that can be around Amelia Watson for very long...

"Thanks for shopping, have a great day!" Amelia said with a slightly forced happy tone. Working as a cashier had severely degraded her mental sanity. The monotony of the job combined with the incredibly rude or just stupid people corroded her sanity at an ever increasing rate. It was nearing the end of her shift and she couldn't wait to leave. "Next!"

A shorter man with a black hoodie walked up to the counter. He glared at Amelia through the top of his vision. Something wasn't right here.

"I would like a refund," he spoke in a low voice. Amelia smiled the best she could.

"Would you happen to have a receipt for that, sir?" Just as she finished her sentence, the man reached into his hoodie's pocket. But he didn't pull out a receipt.

He pulled out a gun and held it so that only Amelia could see it.

Her expression twitched slightly. Not again. She had specifically tried to get a job in a slightly nicer part of town to avoid this.

"Here it is," he said flatly. This seemed to be routine for him. Maybe he was a normal robber from a worse part who decided to up his game. Maybe he's fresh out of prison, looking for a little money. Amelia couldn't say she'd never stolen before, but she'd never threatened someone like this.

But unfortunately for the would-be robber, Amelia Watson was working here now. She had been held at gun and knife point before and had yet to be so much as scratched.

"U-uh-uh," Amelia stuttered out, fakely. The man seemed irritated by her reaction.

"What? Is this not good enough for you?" A twitch made its way into his eye. Amelia wanted to stall this for as long as possible so someone else could help, but it seemed that she wouldn't get the chance.

"O-of course, sir," she said, trying to still sound scared. She reached down towards the cash register to open it up. Except she didn't reach into the cash drawer. She reached through it and towards the robber's gun.

"What the fuck?!" he screamed out when he noticed, firing a shot at her hand. The bullet passed harmlessly through. Amelia took the opportunity to take her other hand and punched the robber in the face. She felt his nose break under her fist.

She quickly phased the rest of her body through the rest of the checkout desk. The robber continued to scream obscenities and tried to fire at her again.

Click.

No bullet came out. The magazine that was once in the gun laid on the ground.

When Amelia had reached for it, she had ejected it. She had also wanted to pull the slide back to stop him from firing the round in the chamber, but that didn't work out. Hopefully her manager would just be thankful she was alive.

Amelia tackled the man to the ground and pinned his limbs under her. She had learned multiple self-defense techniques while living here. She couldn't really afford any defense weapons, but her destabilized-nature made her incredibly dangerous without them, too.

Multiple other bystanders helped her restrain the man and soon the police were running in the store. Amelia gave her report before her manager went to speak with her.

"Hey, Amelia, are you ok?" he asked with a worried tone. Amelia held her hands up.

"I'm fine, Frank." He looked at her with a hint of suspicion.

"The police said that one bullet was fired." Amelia let her arms fall limp at her side and she sighed.

"If I was shot, I wouldn't be functioning, much less standing here talking with you." Frank rolled his eyes.

"Can't a manager be concerned for one of his best employees?" he asked light heartedly. Amelia shrugged.

"Depends on how you treat them."

"If you're talking about getting off, it's already past your shift. So go on, get out," he shooed her out of the store. She did as was asked and left swiftly.

Amelia thought Frank was nice, if a little awkward. At least he wasn't a horrible manager like at some of her previous jobs. She shuddered as memories of being told off for the smallest of things crept into her mind. Honestly, it was probably a worse experience than what had just happened. She laughed at the absurdity of her own thoughts.

It was a fairly nice day as she made her way towards her apartment. She didn't own a car and she'd given up on biking after the second one was stolen. Or course, she didn't really care all that much. The light exercise was nice.

The buildings around her slowly got more run down as she went home. More windows were either broken or boarded up, sometimes both. Her apartment had yet to be broken into, but she felt like it was only a matter of time. There was very little of value in there anyways.

She kept her time watch on her at all times. It was covered with tape and still didn't function. Not that she'd want to use it. She had already done enough damage to the space-time continuum.

Amelia made a conscious effort to stop thinking about the past. It still haunts her dreams every now and then. Seeing Gura die and Ina being torn apart by reality itself. Being reminded of her failures and how it was impossible to fix them.

"That's not true…" she whispered in denial to herself. The time watch could probably be salvaged and that would hopefully give her the opportunity to fix things. Amelia sighed at how many maybe's and if's were in the 'plan' to fix her other timeline. It was an impossible challenge, but one she was willing to face.

She was nearly at her apartment complex at this point. There was a surprising amount of cars outside of it. Someone might be having a party, but they looked way too nice to party in a place like this. She caught a glimpse of a person inside of one of them. He wore a black suit and tie. This still didn't bother her all that much, just a weird thing that happened.

But when Amelia walked up to her apartment, she became very worried. The door was slightly ajar. She clearly remembered closing it when she'd left earlier that day. Had her luck with not being robbed finally run out? Hesitantly, she entered. The first thing she saw was a figure sitting on her bed. The door behind her was pulled shut by someone else. What the fuck was going on?

"Who the hell are you?" Amelia asked the stranger in her room. She didn't necessarily feel threatened, but she was still ready to run at a moment's notice.

"My name is Emersyn Monroe. I'm here on behalf of an agency called Hololive." The woman, Emersyn, stood and bowed to Amelia. Amelia didn't return the gesture. Only now did she notice the katana around her hip. Even more alarms were sounding in her head.

"Well then what do you want and why are you here?" she asked instead. Emersyn sat back onto Amelia's bed carefully.

"You've been scouted by Hololive. I'm here to collect you," she said matter of factly. Amelia just stared at her with intense suspicion.

"I don't think I'm going anywhere unless I'm told about where I'm going."

"Well unfortunately, Ms. Watson, you don't have much of a choice in the matter," she pulled out a piece of paper from the folder sitting next to her, "You have multiple misdemeanors on your record, including driving without a license and multiple counts of petty theft. You've also been accused of trespassing and illegally squatting on someone's property." The list was damning and Amelia knew it was all true.

"I only did all that to survive, so I'm done with that life," Amelia answered in time. Emersyn didn't react at all, instead she pulled out another paper.

"But Ms. Watson, it doesn't seem like you even have a life. Legally speaking, you didn't exist prior to three years ago. It is like you simply appeared here and assumed an identity." She looked up and down the page with concentration. Amelia began to sweat nervously.

"Just because I didn't legally exist, doesn't mean that I didn't physically exist," she tried to explain away her situation. Emersyn didn't buy it.

"So you committed identity theft and are using false documentation and ids?" Amelia was caught out.

"Why the fuck are you here?" she asked, trying to deflect away from the topic at hand. Emersyn stared at her intently.

"I told you already, I'm here to collect you for Hololive."

"But what does that mean? Am I going to prison or some shit?" Amelia was becoming frantic. She had run from the cops before, but now she was completely trapped. Something was telling her that there were some not so nice people outside of her door right now.

"No Ms. Watson, you are not going to prison. That is, if you accept our offer." Amelia began to calm and listen. "We can wipe your slate clean and give you a new life, legally."

"And why do you have the authority to do any of that?" Amelia was skeptical.

"Hololive is an entertainment and containment agency. You can think of us as a zoo, but a lot more humane." Amelia's confusion only increased. "We are contracted by multiple governments around the world to give unusual people a new chance at life."

"What makes you think I'm unusual?" Amelia gritted her teeth. Emersyn showed the first sign of emotion since she'd gotten here, a slight smile crossed her face.

"Well, a time traveler most certainly falls under the category of unusual."

"Why would you suspect that?"

"The stunt you pulled at your work today sealed the deal for us," Emersyn said blankly. Amelia felt what little sense of privacy she still had vanish in an instant.

"H-how do you know this? Have you been watching me?!"

"That would take a lot of time that we don't really have," Emersyn dodged the question, "You are lucky we got you before the foundation did. The job we're essentially offering you is that of an idol or internet personality." As Amelia began to take the words in, Emersyn pulled out her phone and started a video. She held it up for Amelia to see.

"What the hell is that?" Amelia recoiled slightly from the sight she was seeing. It was a video game stream, but the person streaming wasn't human. They looked almost like a rabbit, but still humanoid in shape. "I can't even understand what it's saying."

"Her name is Usada Pekora and she is the kind of person we hire. She would be misunderstood in public, but here she can enjoy a mostly normal life," Emersyn answered as many possible questions as she could before they could be asked, "You would have a similar job, but it would be with people who spoke English instead of Japanese."

"So I would be a streamer?" Amelia asked. Emersyn tried to not facepalm.

"Yes, however you could also sing and talk to your audience as well. Your coworkers would also be some fairly unusual people, so you need to get along with them, too." Emersyn got up from Amelia's bed. "It would be better if you asked your remaining questions in the car ride to our offices."

"Why didn't you just come in here and say you have a nice job for me? You didn't need to threaten me," Amelia pouted slightly.

"Some people we scout need a little bit of encouragement to join. We didn't know if you needed it, too." Emersyn walked past Amelia and opened her door. She held it open and gestured for Amelia to continue through.

"Can I grab anything before I leave?" she asked.

"It will all be delivered to your new room in due time." Amelia let out a sigh, remembering when she had told the police to bring her stuff to her. The memories were still fresh, even after nearly three years. She got into the car that hadn't been there when she entered her apartment complex.

"So I can ask questions on the way there?" Amelia asked Emersyn who was sitting with her in the back of the car. Someone in a nice suit was driving them. Emersyn nodded.

"Indeed, I will be your manager from here on. If you have any questions or need anything, ask me."

"I would like to hear more about the people that you hire." Amelia leaned forward and prepared her mind for all the information she was about to get.

"Would you like me to tell you about everyone or just your coworkers?" Emersyn was still sitting up bolt straight. She seemed like a very proper woman besides the katana on her hip.

"I guess just my coworkers for now. I'm sure I'll learn about the others in due time."

"Well, you will be a part of the first English generation of talents. Others do speak it, but either not very well or they prefer another language." Amelia listened intently. "So your coworkers are going to be limited to only four others, for now."

"So what are they like?" Amelia asked.

"We can only talk about the first two, since the other two are uncertain. They're names are Gawr Gura and Ninomae Ina'nis-"

Amelia was certain that Emersyn continued talking after that point, but she heard none of it. Her mind had retreated back into her past. All of the memories from nearly three years ago came flooding back. She was going to meet them again? They still existed in this timeline?! One of the first things she'd done is try to find any reference to them at any point in time here.

"Ms. Watson? Ms. Watson?" Emersyn waved her hand in front of her face. This brought Amelia back into the world of the living. She looked over at her new manager with a pale and scared face.

"I-I know them…" she said shakily. Emersyn stared at her curiously.

"How so?" she questioned. Amelia swallowed her fear.

"I guess I should actually explain who I am."

"You were going to have to when we got to the office anyways," Emersyn said matter of factly.

"I'm not from this timeline. I got stuck here about three years ago because of an," she hesitated slightly, "accident. In my own timeline, I knew Ina and Gura." Her face was tight and she began sweating slightly.

"Sounds like you don't have such good feelings towards them. If you want, we can delay your debut to another time so you don't need to be around them."

"No!" Amelia scared herself with how powerful that word came out. Emersyn just continued to stare at her. Her emotions were starting to seep through cracks in her psyche again. "I don't hate them or dislike them at all. They were some of my best friends and helped me stay alive during everything. I owe them a lot and miss them just as much…"

Emersyn understood what was actually the case. She sighed and stretched her arms out in front of her. Amelia turned and looked at her.

"Where did you find them? Are they lost in time like me? Are they searching for me?!" Amelia became slightly frantic as she kept speaking. Emersyn turned and looked at her. Her manager's eyes were softer now.

"They have never mentioned you or anyone like you, so they probably aren't from your timeline." Amelia's expression fell.

"I still want to meet them," she found a small amount of resolve inside her. Emersyn nodded.

"Any other questions before we arrive?" Amelia assumed they were close to their destination.

"Who are the others that I might work with?" Emersyn rested her chin on her palm.

"We're not entirely certain. They contacted us as a duo and have refused to name themselves for now. They said that they are searching for something that we might have," Emersyn explained.

"Well they sound mysterious," Amelia commented. The car stopped a moment later.

"We're here," the driver spoke for the first time. Emersyn nodded for Amelia to get out before getting out herself. They were parked on the side of a daily busy street in front of a small office building. It wasn't massive, but it was obvious that this wasn't a small operation.

"Come in and you can meet Ms. Gawr and Ms. Ninomae."

Author's Note: Welcome to "our" timeline! It has all been building to this, Amelia traveling here because of the havoc she caused in her previous timeline.

Emersyn is probably my favorite character to write. It's pretty obvious that she's Enma, but I wanted to give her an actual name. Her cold outward appearance contrasting her caring actions just are so fun. Still though, don't think she'll go easy one you :)

One of the things I realized when planning for the larger, overarching story (yes there is one I promise) is that this part could've been boiled down to Amelia getting attcked by the Priestess and then being sent here in her attempt to escape. But where's the fun in that?! On a narrative note, Amelia's character needs to be explored before she ends up here, otherwise her actions might seem a little weird. Also, the entire reason for me writing this was because of 'Gura doesn't know I exist'.

In fact, the next chapter was supposed to be the end of this "short" story. The only reason there is more is that the loose ends that would've been left were too large. Also, Gura's 'Reflect' just opened the floodgates in my mind. What is this 'Primal Gura'? How does she fit into Gura's overall character? Where did she come from? That song is literally the whole reason there is more to this story than just this first part. In the nest chapter's notes I'll explain the actual structure of the larger story since that is where I explained it on AO3.

Next Chapter: (un)Familiar Faces

Any feedback/criticism is appreciated!