I woke up early the next morning. Today I need to see all Jackie's kids. Hope they're all okay…
I walked into the living room, seeing Sweetie was on the couch sorting through mail. "Trash, trash, junk… oh these people again…" She groaned, tossing that letter onto the ground.
I walked over, picking it up with magic. The front was addressed to Sweetie and was from the Synthetic Being Union.
"Synthetic Being Union?" I inquired.
"Yeah… apparently if you're a synthetic being there's a union that helps you either find a place or parts or get you therapy and shit since some people look on Synthetics in a similar light some look at Breeders. It's like a support group, but they're so annoying…" She groaned.
"I can imagine." I said honestly. "So how have you been Sweetie?"
"Fine, all things considered. I was having a good day until I saw that anyway…" She said, glaring at the letter before looking back to the rest of the mail. "Mostly just junk mail and such."
"That's fine." I nodded, grabbing the piece of mail and ripping it up. "So, what's on today's agenda for you?"
"Gonna do some shopping. We got the betting pool money and with what you gave us I'm gonna buy in bulk some stuff and items for the Planet Room. Might even be able to buy an in-home med bay…" She said. "Would be useful…"
"What's wrong?" I asked worriedly. "Cause…the way you said that makes me think something bad happened…"
"Huh, no, no! Just would be better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Especially given some of the kids have medical conditions, keeping a place full of medical supplies, potions, maybe even a medical robot would be useful." She said. "There are other useful rooms we can get too if you're willing to throw the money that way."
"Anything to help." I said with a smile. "We have too much money anyways."
"Heh, in that case maybe some additions to the kitchen, a proper crafting room since so many of the kids love that, an in home bank room, maybe buy some bedroom upgrades for them all too…" Sweetie thought aloud. "Maybe some worker droids too to help gather resources in the Planet room…"
"Do you need some help with the shopping trip?" I asked.
"I'll be fine. Besides, you have stuff to do still unless you wanna fall behind more." She smirked.
"I'd rather not get more behind." I said quickly. "But today is the start of me meeting all of Jackie's kids."
"Ah. Well you best get a hurry on then." Sweetie chuckled. "Dire Wolf pups are usually very energetic."
I chuckled. Actually, first on my list for Jackie's kids is little Fry… last I saw him he was barely one and so small. He's also human… wonder how growing up amongst non-humans affected him, if at all?
"Well, hopefully things go smoothly here." I said honestly, leaning over and giving Sweetie a quick kiss before heading off to find Fry.
I headed off and checked the list. Fry had grown into a fine pre-teen, his skin was a bit pale, his eyes were a bright blue and I noticed his hair was dyed the same blue as Jackie's fur.
I found his bedroom door and knocked. The door open- What the? Towering over at me was a tall green snake that I felt like was judging me…
"Uh…hi?" I asked sheepishly.
"What's up Serperior?" A kid's voice asked as the tall snake stepped aside and I saw Fry walk into the doorway. "Oh! Dad, I didn't think you'd come around to me yet." He said. "You remember Serperior right?"
"Wait…" I looked a little closer…this…"Oh yeah! This was the emotional support pokemon I got Jackie…it's been forever, and you're fully evolved now, that's amazing." I said with a smile.
"Ser." Serperior said.
"Yeah. After mom was put into cryosleep, Serperior would look after the lot of us. But I took the most care of him." Fry chuckled, petting the snake pokemon's body. "Now that mom is out, the two have been reconnecting, and mom has been… clingy." He said with a weak smile.
I sighed. "I'm…I'm so sorry Fry…" I said bitterly. "I wish it could have worked out better…it hurts more when Diamond told me it…was for the best…"
"It's fine, I get it, I just wish Mom would… maybe not be as clingy as she's been." He said, side stepping. I looked inside and… Jackie was taking up his whole bed, clinging what I think is Fry's blanket. "She's been sleeping in all our beds, a new one of us every night."
"Well…I suppose that makes sense, she had a lot of missed time and believes this is what needs to be done." I said honestly. "But today is our father-son bonding day."
"Oh cool! Serperior, look after mom alright." Fry said.
"Ser." Serperior said with an added nod as they closed the door behind him as he left.
"So, what are we gonna do?" Fry asked.
"Well, today is me and you hanging out, and me just…trying to get to know you, your hobbies, your likes and dislikes…and just try and be a good father."
"Alright. Well, there is something I can use your help with."
"Anything son." I said readily.
"Can you help me out at the kennel?"
"The kennel?" I inquired.
"Yeah, it's in the Planet Room." He said.
Fry led me into the planet room, and walking a ways from the farm we came upon a large fenced off area filled with various animals and… I think those are pokemon too!
He opened the gate and the creatures all ran up to him. I saw racoons, wolves, some birds, and in terms of the pokemon I saw Rattata, Bidoof, a Turtwig, and a Shinx.
"Heh, hey you guys." Fry said as he kneeled down and began petting them.
"This is…really cool Fry." I said honestly. "How many animals and pokemon do you have here?"
"What you see here is everyone. Not including Serperior." He said. "Taking care of them so much I got really into animal care, and when I was six I learned some basic Beast Tamers magic and worked on it here. My pokemon friends here though I purchased from a breeder. Pokemon breed fast so, they weren't expensive, but I love them anyway. Even if they can be a handful." He chuckled.
"Yeah, that makes sense." I said, seeing the Shinx move up to me and sniff my leg lightly. "Hi there."
They sniffed me some more, then growled and bit me.
"Shinx no!" Fry yelped, pulling the small electric cat off me. "Sorry dad."
"Nah, I expected that." I said honestly.
"Wonder why they bit you though. I've only ever seen them bite Grandpa before…"
"That's…strange…" I frowned. "Maybe they think I'm some weird pokemon or something? There are some horse pokemon right?"
"No, they know the difference between normal animals, sentient beings and such… maybe he smelled your… darkness…" Fry muttered.
I sighed. "Maybe…but then why would they bite dad? He's a lot brighter than me."
"Well, Grandpa Echo did say he did a lot of stuff since becoming a member of the New Foundation guard…"
I keep forgetting that they know my dad as grandma cause of their gender swap… I have got to visit them…
"Alright…I sometimes forget…" I sighed.
"Shinx, despite being only an electric type, has strong dark affinities. It's not uncommon for them to detect a person's darkness and react… have you done… bad things dad?" Fry asked.
"I…sadly have, because I had to for our family…" I sighed. "And then it got worse whether I did something or not…"
"Oh… I guess that's why they bit you." Fry said. "What did you do?"
I looked down. "A lot of things…I don't know if you'll hate me because of it, but I had to do a lot of things to make sure our family was safe way before we met the Foundation…"
"Well, we learned in school that on Armageddon that's how things can be. There's a lot of bad people here…"
"As I've learned from the planet themselves…there is a difference between Evil and Bad." I explained. "The Chaos Guilds, like Lust, those are bad guys, what I did may have been evil but I did those things because I had to."
"... Monsters killing Monsters…" Fry said, making me look up at them. "It's something my Beast Taming magic teacher told me. Men don't kill men, monsters kill men and men kill monsters… but sometimes it takes a monster to kill a monster." He said.
"Yeah…I've heard that saying many times…" I sighed. "Bu…I'm doing this all for you and the rest of our family."
"I know." He said, putting Shinx down and petting them. "After all, I'm here because of what you had to do."
I froze, feeling my blood run cold…
"I…h-how did…when…?"
"Heh, it's not hard to realize I'm not the same as my Siblings dad." Fry chuckled. "And I'm not from a pod. I don't know the full details… but I know I came from… bad people. All my human siblings and a few of my pony siblings came from Puritan Colonies. Same as me. Moms said you came home with us all, some as babies, the others older. I asked the older ones and they said they don't remember anything before coming home here, just a… fear, and dread whenever you were mentioned or when they saw you. Not that hard to put two and two together from that."
"Well…I guess that makes sense." I said.
"It's why I'm glad you kept me. It would have been… easier for you to give us to someone else. Like my birth mom. Found out through Venus my birth mom gave me to you after I was born. I know she lives outside the walls…" He sighed.
"Not the…best ways I wanted you to learn all this." I admitted. "But…she trusted me to take care of you, even though I…turned that Puritan colony to ash…she believed I would be a good father for you."
"And you accepted. You could have said no, or even gave me to someone else, but you took me and the others in. In the end, you felt guilty."
"Yes…and everyone says that's what makes me different from all the terrible people on this planet…when I started to think I was becoming one of them…"
"It's what makes me glad you're my dad. Anyone else would have killed mom while I was in her and… I wouldn't be here."
"And I'm still glad to have you here Fry." I said, moving close and lightly nuzzling my son.
"Heh, that tickles." He laughed. "I do have one question though… Why did you name me after the protagonist from Futurama?"
"Uh…it was a combination of me being bad at names, especially not knowing human names… and I just binged Futurama…" I said sheepishly.
"Pst! Ha!" Fry laughed. "Well, guess it could be worse. Come on, I just gotta feed and check their water then we can take a walk through the forests."
"Alright." I nodded. "And hopefully I can make friends with all your animal friends."
Feeding and checking all the water troughs and food bowls was easy. Fry would make their meals from food they foraged while he was away. Usually just mixing them together or if he had the time, used fish or shellfish.
Once that was all done and they were all happy, we headed off through the woods. The various trees and such almost reminded me of home.
Fry navigated through here with an almost expert ease, and I noticed there were markings on some trees too that we walked by.
"And where are we going?" I inquired. "Seem's well traveled if all the markings on the trees are anything to go by."
"I come here a lot. I can practice my beast taming here and I enjoy the scenery." Fry said.
We soon approached a field with some wildflowers growing all around, and on one of the trees here was a large bee hive.
I watched him raise a hand up, the circles and matrix of magic flowing from his arm and around it. The hive lit up and soon faded.
Fry then walked up to the hive, the bees all backing away from them as he took some of the honey out on a spoon he pulled from his assistant.
"Want some?" He asked.
"Sure." I said, taking the spoon with my magic and eating the honey to see how well it was.
It was very sweet, not quite like eating sugar or caramel, but it was almost like… Honey Syrup. Mom put it on pancakes, waffles… it was just Honey she mixed with some maple syrup, or so she told me, but it tasted good, and this tasted the same.
"This…" I started to tear up. "It…tastes like the honey syrup mom put on pancakes back home…"
"Heh, wild flowers plus this tree, the honey and the sap inside must mix." Fry said. "I usually only ever take a jar at a time."
"That's fair." I nodded. "But…it tastes like home…"
"What's your home reality like dad?"
"My home reality…" I sighed. "It was…nice, colorful, full of friendship, magic, a weird thing always happening on Tuesday for some reason…but that was Equis, and it was home."
"Do you miss it?"
"Well…sometimes." I admitted. "Just…how simple life was back then, even if I really didn't have any goal in life or a cutie mark…it was still home…it was simple and…the biggest thing is that, well, I just miss mom." I explained. "But I'm happy to be here, even with all this craziness going on, I still have all of you, my family…and I can't give that up."
"Sounds nice." He said, taking a seat amongst the flowers. I sat next to them. "I guess that's why I come here a lot. Lot of us like to come here because it's… simple. Inside the walls there's life and… stuff, outside the walls there's craziness… but here it's just… peaceful." He sighed as he laid down on the grass.
"Yeah…" I said, laying down on the grass, feeling the earth that's so full of life instead of it trying to cling to life. "It's nice…and this is what I'm fighting for."
"Do you ever wonder if there are others like you out there? People trying to make a difference where they can?"
"I'm sure there are." I said honestly. "It would be cool to meet some of them, cause I think someone like Tina would enjoy helping me fix things."
"Who's Tina?" Fry asked.
"Have you seen a really big Zinogre lady roaming around?" I inquired.
"Uh… Not sure what a Zingore is."
I frowned, wondering what I could do to define what she was…but then just went to my Assistant and showed him a picture of a Zinogre. "This is a Zinogre, a playful term I've heard is 'Thunder Pupper'."
"Oh, I've seen a large wolf lady like that around. I think someone called her the town swinger? What's a swinger?"
Heh…
"Uh…basically she is very open to doing lewd things with many different people."
"Oh. Like you?"
What?!
"Maybe I didn't explain it properly, but I am not like that lady." I shook my head.
"But including everyone you have… nineteen partners, all of which you had kids with, and then everyone is saying you had a date with Miss Barb, how does that not make you a swinger?"
I took a deep breath… Uh…
"Alright, so the difference between being in a Herd, or Harem as it's normally called, and being a Swinger is that I am in a loving relationship with each and everyone of my spouses, and I do indeed like Barb and want to continue dating her, and a Swinger is someone who would go up to a random person and ask them to have sex for no other reason then they wanted to."
"Oh like Mamma Jackie and you." I groaned. "Isn't she usually asking you for sex? She and the others like her?"
Okay… this is… shit…
"There is a difference, Breeder's are…" I sighed.
"I know. I'm messing with you now." Fry said, laughing.
"Yeah yeah." I shook my head. "But…I'm glad to see you happy Fry."
"All in all, I can't complain about anything. Life has been pretty good."
"That's good." I nodded.
I was glad Fry was doing well. He was a good kid, and that made me happy. The next day arrived and I was off to see my son Sachiel. Based on the photo from the files, He has all neon green fur. He's quadrupedal only, so he walks on all fours but he can use his front paws like hands so that's interesting. He's feral in terms of body type but has some anthropomorphic traits.
I walked up and knocked on Sacheil's door. "Sachiel? You in here?"
There wasn't a reply. I opened the door and was hit by the scent of dirt. Looking around Sachiel's room I saw there was a lot of dirt in the carpet. A few bins with dirt covered items, random little things mostly, even his bed seemed to have small bits of dirt and tiny pebbles on it.
"There's…a lot of dirt." I admitted, wondering where my son could be right now.
He wasn't in his room, so I left it, closing the door and heading to the living room. No one was here so I went to the kitchen, finding Jada was eating waffles with a mug of coffee that was more like a large soup bowl with a handle.
"Hey Jada." I said. "How you doing?"
"Sleepy…" She muttered, almost letting her face drop into her coffee before taking a huge gulp.
"Just woke up or something else?"
"Gamed all night." She said, now managing to shovel some of her waffles into her mouth.
"Yeah, I know that pain." I nodded. "Do you know where Sacheil is?"
"He's usually in the Tunnels when there's no school…" She yawned.
"And…where's the Tunnels?" I asked.
"Just look for the big ass hole near the eastern walls…" She yawned again, drinking more coffee.
"Alright." I said. "And please get your sleep, I know you're a big gamer but please, your rest is very important."
"Hehe… for now anyway…" She sleepily chuckled.
"Sleep will let you game better." I said honestly, gently patting her head. "Have a nice day Jada." I said, heading off to find Sachiel to hang out with him.
I decided to fly up, getting an aerial-
"Hold it." I paused, turning to see one of the New Foundation Security stop me. "You have a flight permit?" He asked me.
"Really?" I asked, showing my Guard badge believing this would get this guard off me.
"You might be a guard but you still need a flight permit to fly within the walls." They said. "Otherwise air traffic under the dome would get backed up."
I looked around, not seeing a damn person in the sky besides the two of us. "Yeah…traffic is really zoomin today." I said slowly. "I'm just trying to find the Tunnels, I'm not Jaywalking here…or Jayflying?"
"Head east towards Ruins Ave, and you'll know you're there when you see the giant hole filled with elevators."
"Thank you." I nodded, heading off to the Tunnels now. "When the hell did we suddenly need permits to fly? Do they landlock people that can only fly to move around or something?" I thought to myself.
Walking there wasn't that long thankfully and I did indeed see what Jada and that guard meant when they mentioned a gant hole. It was maybe a quarter mile in circumference and elevators were going up and down into it. I looked around, seeing most people here seemed to be carrying around pickaxes, shovels, large hand held drills and such.
So it's a mineshaft.
"I shouldn't be surprised…" I thought to myself, trotting along to see if there's a service elevator down so I could see my kid.
There were several levels. Level one through seven. Hmm… Which one could he be on… how far down does this even go?
So instead of taking a wild guess, I decided to walk over to someone that knew what they were doing. "Excuse me, do you know what area Sachiel is?" I inquired to the one miners politely.
"Who?" They asked, looking down at me as they were a rather tall… triclops looking person.
"Neon green quadruped?" I said. "Or do you know someone that would know where he is?"
"Neon green… dire wolf pup right?" They asked. I nodded. "Yeah, that kids been coming here for three years. Usually he's on level four."
"Thank you." I nodded. "Have a nice day." I said to the triclops as I headed to one of the elevator's to hopefully head down to level four.
I pushed the level four button and the thing felt like it dropped, moving at a scary speed down as I passed one large opening, then another, and another. It began to slow down, breaks squeaking and stopping right at the forth large opening. Lights mounted into the dense dirt and rock of the walls lit up the area, revealing various tunnels and that the massive main cavern stretched very far back. I looked up, seeing the entrance was not even visible from here.
How far down am I?!
"Uh…huh…" I said weakly, thinking about how deep we were if this was the fourth floor.
I walked onto the ground… immediately my earth pony senses felt the ground here was… different. The earth higher up was… aching. Suffering and oftentimes scared even. Here, it was like… calm. Not at ease, or peaceful, not even happy but just… calm.
Interesting…
I began walking down the massive main chamber, looking for my son. Come on, where are you?
"Can you sense him at all Cheat?" I mentally asked my Symbiote, given she could also sense people when my normal senses couldn't cut it.
"Button, I'm an armor/biological symbiote… magic is not my strong suit let alone something I know how to use. I'd modify your nose but you don't know his scent to track." Cheat said.
I sighed. "Fine fine…at least worth a try." I thought, trotting along trying to find my son.
I kept an ear and eye out, looking around all the-
A chunk of the wall broke open, two large paws reaching out followed by a neon green dire wolf pup crawling out of the falling dirt and behind them was a long tunnel. They shook the dirt off then looked over and noticed me. "Oh, hey dad." He nodded, then started walking elsewhere.
"Hey Satchiel, how you doing today?" I inquired, following along my, apparently, dig happy pup.
"Digging." He said, putting his nose to the ground and taking some scents in.
"And I can see you are good at it." I said honestly. "I heard you started digging three years ago, mind if I ask what brought this on?"
"I have a good nose." He said simply, walking over to a spot on the ground and began digging down. "I'd find things in the parks and such. When this place opened up Mamma Maud took me to try it out and I've been coming ever since." He said, moving the dirt away until he found a small square of dirty metal. He brushed it off a little, then placed it into his Assistant.
"I can tell, and with your big paws you are able to dig really well." I said honestly.
"Yeah. Helps with the really tough dirt and softer rocks. Mamma Maud can do way more though."
I nodded, remembering how we first met…
I followed Sachiel as he walked and was sniffing around the dirt and rocks.
"So…I wanted to say this is our father son bonding day…" I said, even though I felt a twinge in my heart that I might just be a bother to him during his work.
"Alright." He said, sniffing along a wall. He began digging into it with more enthusiasm and soon a small but shimmering aqua glue gemstone was revealed. "Ah, this is a good one." He said, managing to pop it out and grab it in his paw.
"Oh? And what's this gemstone?" I inquired.
"This is a Water Elemental Gemstone." He said. He gripped it, the gem glowing as suddenly water began pouring out from the gem itself, like from a faucet. He took a few drinks from it then offered it to me.
I took a sip.
The water from this gem was like… it was room temperature, but tastes like the freshest spring water. Like some expensive brand of bottled water sold in various places.
"Room temp, but that is the purest water I have ever drank." I said honestly.
"That's how Elemental Gems work. They're loaded with primal creation energy. Naturally mined ones like this are always a useful find, and there are even artificial elemental gems people can make if they have the right ingredients and Crafting Abilities."
"Awesome." I said. "What do you normally do with these special ores or gems you find?" I inquired.
"Some I keep, others I give to the siblings that craft items." He said, putting the gem into his assistant before walking around and sniffing again.
"That's cool." I nodded, still following along. "Got any hobbies besides mining?"
"Not really. I usually just dig and listen to music or audiobooks while I do." He said, sniffing along the ground and walls.
"That's fair." I nodded. "What's your favorite audiobook?"
"Nothing Can Create Life." He said.
"Hmm…does that involve the Nothingness energies I've heard here and there?"
"Yeah. It's a loosely based story on the first god of Nothingness." He nodded, stopping at a corner where the walls meet the floor and dug in some. He dug in a fair amount and eventually pulled out what looked like fossil of some leaf. "Eh." He said, tossing it.
I grabbed the stone and looked at it. "This is a Leaf Stone…" I said in surprise. "Can these mine's produce any kind of metals or gems?"
"If it can be dug from inside the earth then anything can be found here. I hear back at the New Foundation main colony they found huge underground cities buried whole and all kinds of huge ore deposits. The deeper you go the more often you find stuff, be it ore, random stuff or even dungeons and such. The deepest I hear some say is back on Homeworld where the oldest and deepest mines have endless deposits of high value, extremely rare ores and such."
"That's really cool." I said honestly.
"Mining and digging can lead to all sorts of cool stuff. Just takes work sometimes." He shrugged, digging into another part of the wall. He dug to a while and eventually pulled out a large curved sword. Despite the dust it seemed in good condition. "Meh." He shrugged, dropping it and began walking off.
I grabbed the weapon, as apparently his 'meh's' were now my treasure. "And why are you giving meh's to some of this?"
"They don't interest me." He said simply as he walked along the main tunnel. We walked along the main tunnel when the ground began to shake some. Suddenly one of the walls burst open and slamming against what looked to be a small minotaur teen who was wrestling some ungodly amalgamation of various body parts merged together in a melted/fused form of some demonic worm. "Hey Kile." Sachiel said.
"Hey Sach!" The minotaur teen said, managing to toss the monster aside before blasting it with some blinding magic that seemed to incinerate the whole thing at once. He then dusted himself off. "Who's that?" They asked, motioning to me.
"My dad."
"Ah."
"Hi there." I nodded to the minotaur. "It's nice to meet you, I presume your friend's with my son?"
"Yeah, been keeping an eye on them since they like to tunnel so far from the main chamber so much." Kile chuckled.
"It's not that bad." Sachiel said.
"Maybe but you don't wanna run into a Corpse Worm alone." He said.
"A Corpse Worm?" I asked worriedly.
"Yeah, that thing I just killed. Monsters like that tunnel underground and sometimes we run into pockets full of undead and such." He said. "Thankfully Underground dungeons don't respawn enemies until New Years."
"Alright, that's…good to know." I nodded. "Thank you for keeping my son safe…" I said, cause while I am happy that he found a friend and fellow miner…I still keep feeling hurt by not being here for my family…
"So, looking for anything specific this time Sach or are ya just exploring to explore?" Kile asked.
"Mostly just looking for whatever. Dad seems to be taking whatever I leave behind." Sachiel said.
"You do know most of what you find and toss you could sell, and most of what you keep is scrap and junk stuff."
"It's better raw materials."
"So far I've collected a Leaf Stone and a pretty neat looking sword." I said honestly. "And never underestimate scrap or junk, cause sometimes it could magically turn into something amazing."
"Heh, you trying to be one of the five Brothers Sach?" Kile chuckled.
"No, but people need raw materials, and ingots are easier to buy than to make." Sachiel said.
"Heh, fair. You could recycle the stuff you're tossing too you know."
"Yeah, but that's more work."
"Sometimes the extra bit can lead to a lot more good things." I admitted. "But how good is your sense of smell with all these materials?"
"Good enough. I can usually find stuff a few feet into the dirt." Sachiel said.
"Once watched him dig out an entire forty pound ore deposit of Moonstone." Kile chuckled.
"The bigger it is, the more likely I can smell it from deeper in the ground."
"That's really cool." I said with a smile. "And you must be really strong to dig all that by yourself son."
"I've built up some muscle, and I managed to get some strength boosting abilities." Sachiel said.
"That's good to hear." I nodded.
"Yeah, kids working hard down here. Gonna join the Resource Collectors when he's of age." Kile said with a smirk.
"It's a good job option, plus all the metals needed to expand the walls and such have to come from somewhere."
"Yeah that's fair." I nodded. "And you would do great in Resource Collector's."
"He's a natural talent." Kile nodded. "Welp, I gotta head off. Need to check for more worms."
Kile ran off down the tunnel and I walked next to Sachiel who kept sniffing around for more items hidden under the dirt.
"And this is what you do for the better part of a day?"
"When I don't have school, yeah." He said, starting to dig into part of the dirt wall.
"And how is school going for ya?" I asked,wondering if I could help out the digging.
"Alright. Grades are average." He said, something starting to poke out of the ground. He kept digging around it. Exposing more.
"Oh? What'd you find?" I inquired, seeing that it was actually quite big.
"Looks like another sword or something. Seems pretty big." He said, digging out the handle of it that was, indeed, extremely large. "Must be a claymore or something similar."
"Well, let me help." I said, forming my claws and helping Sachiel dig out the huge sword.
"Nah, you can dig it out if you want but it's not something I plan on taking anyway." He shrugged.
I nodded. For some reason I felt compelled to pull this thing out.
It took more effort than I expected, but I managed to pull the huge thing out. It was a sword but had an… interesting design. The handle was large, the blade was fat and hefty, and the top ended in what looked almost like… maybe a star? It was heavily rusted and caked in old dirt.
"Huh…that's new." I said, lightly dusting it off with my wing to get a better look at it.
The metal seemed good still, despite the rust. I could sense some magic within it, a thin fragment of something clinging to life.
I used Scan, wondering what this is.
[Scan Complete!
Item: Lunatic
Class: Claymore
Weapon Tier: F
Warning! Weapon is Heavily Damaged!
Repair for Proper Status Display.]
"Uh…okay." I said honestly. "Going to have to ask around what this thing really is and how to fix it…" I hummed, putting the Claymore away for the time being and following after my son.
I followed Sachiel around, keeping whatever he didn't want and helping him dig up larger items.
"Do you think _ put that there intentionally?"
"No, that was naturally there. He lucked out."
"Well damn. _ is gonna lose their shit."
"You think Button will be able to reign in all that power? Lunatic has always been fickle from what you and _ tell me."
"It will take time. If he is to wield it properly and safely, he will need to understand his rage and where the spark that started it came from, otherwise the fire will burn him and his loved ones to nothing. As is, he's often barely containing his anger over trivial things. He has a long way to go to ever be a master of anything, let alone Berserker."
"I mean…let's be real here, poor guy's been through a lot and his anger has been teetering on the brink because of the spark, and he doesn't really have a good outlet since he's now hard focused on his kids…and beating himself up over how much he missed."
"And yet we both know there is more he will be put through. He will need a real mentor, like Midoriya with the Saint."
"Do you have someone in mind or will he have to stumble around to find them? Also…still hate how this crap is still going on…even if it is a necessary evil…"
"We both know what happens when evil is removed, attempted to be removed, or left to run wild. As for a mentor… That Parker fellow that was helping him earlier was doing a good job, at least until the New Foundation moved in and settled down. We might have to apply some work arounds to get the desired results."
"I know…but what do you have in mind?"
"Later. For now, let him enjoy his time of peace with his kids. We can aid him in smaller ways that will make a larger impact later on, but nothing major or direct. Still can't believe _ made that David guy a special Keyblade that perfectly works with Generation. And then _'s plans with the other David and them… Ugh, this is such a pain."
"And then there's the plan's going on with Midoriya, and the nightmare his Keyblade is going to be…and here we thought _ would have made sure that overpowered nonsense would stay away."
"To be fair, we both know just how much _ HATES Armageddon… and the Chaos Guilds, are you surprised they only made it do that? Compared to what it did before?"
"Let's just be glad they used it like…pff, what, once?"
"True, then nerfed it after. Well, let's check the _ so we can plan out what we can sneak this angry horse."
I came home and immediately took a shower. I was caked in dirt from digging with Sachiel. Once I was clean I went to bed.
The next morning I was up and ready to meet the next child. Theo. My next son was anthropomorphic like his mother, he had blue underbelly fur and the rest of his body was covered in brown fur like my own fur color. He also seemed to have a more pony-like tail rather than a wolf tail.
I knocked on the door. "Theo? You in here?"
"Come in!" I heard them call. I opened the door and was greeted by seeing them seated at a desk, an Assistant Menu open on a screen display and them going through a menu.
"Hey Theo, how you doing?" I asked, walking in and closing the door behind me.
"Good. Sachiel got me a lot of raw materials last night and I'm trying to process them now." He said, pressing one of the menu buttons and appearing in a flash of light before him was a small metal ingot.
"That's cool." I nodded. "I suppose you're more into all the crafting and restoring things here?" I asked, though my first thought was a professional from the crafters guild, I might as well see what my son has to say about Lunatic.
"Yeah. Aunt Mei got me into it." He chuckled, making several more ingots then putting them back into his Assistant.
"That's good." I nodded. "Hey, can you check something for me?" I inquired, pulling out Lunatic from my Assistant. "Want some second opinion's before heading off to the Crafter's Guild."
"Hmm…" Theo hummed as he looked the rusty weapon over. "It's still got a spark of magic despite the damage… It looks like it's mostly cosmetic…" He said. I noticed the way his eyes flashed as he seemed to be using Scan. "Ah. Interesting."
"What up?" I inquired.
"Well, I'm not an expert but I think this is a Sentient Weapon." He said. "It seems to need a wielder to achieve full strength, and Moonlight to awaken properly."
Huh. Makes sense, moon is technically in the name.
"Alright, I'll get it fully checked out later." I nodded. "Thank you Theo…just randomly found it when I was with Sachiel and it was like it…called to me."
"Makes sense. If it is a Sentient Weapon then it's likely compatible with you for one reason or another." He nodded.
"Yeah, I'll have to get it checked after this." I nodded. "So, how long have you been into all the crafting stuff?"
"Just in the last few months really. I've always been interested in how things are made. Used to take toys apart when I was younger and try and put them back together. Some month ago Aunt Mei gave me some raw materials and showed me the Assistant internal crafting menu. It's limited without upgrades or abilities but it's pretty useful as is."
"That's fair." I nodded. "I'm sure you'll be an amazing crafter if you keep this."
"Maybe." He shrugged. "It's definitely an option before I have to begin apprenticeships."
"So, got any other hobbies?" I inquired.
"Sometimes I listen to music and think about stuff."
"That's fair." I nodded. "What…do you think about me being back?"
"I don't really know. Moms always said you'd be back but now that you are it's kinda… different?"
"How different?" I inquired.
"I dunno. The house just kinda feels different. I can't really explain it."
"I understand." I nodded. "When I first came back…I felt like a stranger here…it felt like I wasn't wanted…but then things started to get better."
"Well, how has it been going on your end?"
"Well…while I'm always reminded of the pain of not being with you all for ten years, I'd say I'm doing rather well with at least trying to be a good dad."
"That's good. So you're doing well then?"
"For the most part." I nodded. "Just…trying my best."
"That's good. Lot of people don't try at all."
"People should try to be better…cause if not, then none of us would be here."
"Yeah. I guess in a way the New Foundation is like that too. They are the only ones able to stand up to the Chaos Guilds."
"And there will be more…I just know it."
It took a while but I managed to find the Maintenance Workshop. After I spent time with Theo, mostly him teaching me things I didn't know about the crafting system in the assistant.
I managed to find the weaponsmiths,
As I walked around-
"Well I'll be damned." I looked over… woah. Mei had grown, she wasn't a teenager anymore, the one that came with me to Armageddon. Now she was an adult, her long pink hair kept in two tightly wrapped ponytails, her figure… healthy, and she wore the same old goggles she did before. "Long time no see Button." She smiled as she shook my hoof.
"It's been a while Mei, how are you doing?" I asked with a smile, shaking her hand happily.
"Been good. Heard you were back and was wondering when you'd pop in around the workshops."
"Yeah, sorry about not coming in sooner, just had a lot of things to do." I said sheepishly. "But I have something for you to look at and hopefully restore." I said, pulling out Lunatic for her.
"Holy…shit…" She said, looking the blade over. "Where did you find this?"
"Sachiel randomly found it in the Mines, and it…called me." I said carefully. "So…why do you sound surprised?"
"Because this is a weapon usually found in level four and five dungeons. Never seen one this beat up though." She said. "Come on, I'll tell you more in my workshop." I nodded, picking Lunatic up and following her to a workshop filled with various parts, machines and raw ores and other machines making or repairing stuff. "Okay, so how much do you know about Nothingness?"
"Not much, I know it's the opposite of Void and that it has its own brand of creatures called Nobodies but not much else."
"Alright… know anything about All Maker King?"
"I know that they're like…the number one fashion and porn star." I said sheepishly. "I mean…even here, I've found a few magazines about…all those topics…" I said sheepishly.
"Right… well, guess it's time for an abridged history lesson." Mei said with a sigh. "So, All Maker King is also known as the Admin of Nothingness, and the second King of Nothingness. King and their Council possess powerful artifacts, weapons inherited from the first King of Nothing. The King's Berserker is the wielder of Lunatic, a claymore built for high impact and large areas of effect attacks. Only the Berserker and King themselves can wield the original Lunatic, but copies that carry its properties and power exist. This is one of them."
"Wow…" I blinked, looking at the weapon. "So it's a berserker weapon huh? Can you fix it?"
She motioned for me to put it on the table. I did and she immediately began using her Scan Ability on it. "Hmm… well most of this damage is cosmetic but the magic core is damaged too… that's different. Maybe it's a rare variant? Or perhaps defective loot…" Mei muttered.
"Well…maybe it just needs a spark to fix the core?" I suggested. "Cause there's many pieces of media where an old damaged weapon became good as new with the correct action…if thats even a thing…"
"Normally yeah but that's more for dormant weapons. This one's Core is damaged. For magic weapons, a damaged core is a very bad thing."
"So how do we fix it? Cause I have enough money to fund whatever nonsense you need to do to fix this."
"Money isn't the issue here. Core magic is tricky to work with. It's the equivalent to a soul for the weapon. A damaged one will be tricky to repair without any soul essence… maybe a donor can work?"
"How much of my soul do I need to put in it?" I asked, really not wanting to use someone else's soul because of this. "Er…well, I could also get Yuri to fix it now that I think about it…"
"Pst. Please, don't insult me." Mei said, smirking. "And it's not like it needs a lot. A few shavings will work and hell if it does work then you and this weapon will be nearly symbiotic."
"Well…having another symbiote with me wouldn't be too bad." I said honestly. "So how will this work?"
"I said nearly and it won't be like having another symbiote." Mei waved off. "It would almost be like… having a Keyblade or even a Soul Blade." She said, pulling out an odd knife that's blade seemed to be as clear as glass. "Now then for those shavings."
"That's all cool…and how do we do this? I just raise my hoof and you shave it off like trimming my fur?"
"Something like that." She said, kneeling down and brought the knife up to my leg. To my shock the blade slid into my body. I felt nothing other than a full chill that crawled across my back as Mei brought the knife down. Once she did I saw a thin slice of a shimmering light slip from inside my leg. She grabbed it and quickly put it atop Lunatic. "That should be enough."
"Th-that felt…awful…." I shuddered. "So cold…"
"That is, as they say, the touch of death." Mei said. "That knife is made from the elemental Death Gem. It's one of the few things that can even touch a soul."
"Wh-why is Death an element?" I asked.
"Things are born and things die, even in this reality." She said. "Would be silly to not have Death as an element."
"I mean…that's fair but still..." I said nervously. "So, with some of my soul, what next?"
"Now I perform some very complex and tricky magic work. Oh and don't worry about that sliver, your main soul will regenerate that missing sliver in a few hours to a day max." She said, putting a hand on Lunatic. Immediately a black rift opened up over the weapon and inside I could make out…
It pulsated, almost like a heartbeat and glowed with the soft light of a full moon. The core looked cracked and was even missing a piece on one side of it.
"That's…a lot of damage…" I thought to myself, not wanting to make any noises cause this was something even Mei said was difficult and tricky.
I sat there and let Mei do her work. I didn't know what she was doing but little by little the soul silver of mine began to shrink and the cracks and missing chunk on the core of Lunatic began to become whole.
It took about an hour and a half but eventually she finished, the core looking whole, if a bit discolored. With another wave of her hand the rift over it closed. "There. Now all you gotta do is wield this thing under moonlight and it should activate."
"Cool." I nodded, gently taking Lunatic and checking the time to see how long it would take till the moon was up.
Let's see… sunset in… half an hour, cool!
I decided to rush out to the gates, heading outside just in case and I made my way atop a tall building. Once the moon was high in the sky I figured it best I change to a humanoid form and picked it up with both hands.
When I shifted to my human form, I gripped the handle with both hands and held it up, the blade pointed towards the sky. "Let's hope this works…" I muttered, taking a deep breath as I raised it to the sky so it could bathe in the Moon's light.
At first, it felt like nothing was happening. Disappointment began to hit me until the tip began to shimmer, a blinding almost metallic gray light glowing down the blade, revealing it to be an elegant blend of chrome, blue and gold colorings.
Woa-
"Rage."
I buckled, the weight suddenly feeling like it was ten tons as it was in my hands. Still, despite trying I can't let go, like the same force that was giving it this immeasurable weight was also keeping me from dropping it.
"Wrath…"
Again, the weight increased, the tip flowing and pulsating first with a white light that then turned crimson.
"Hatred…"
I crashed down through the building, inside and landing hard with my knees snapping. I couldn't even swear from the pain, this pressure…
"Vengeance…"
The pressure began to dull my senses. First hearing, then sight, even smell, and lastly touch. The pain I felt grew dull and I began to feel… light…
"Worthy…"
The pressure suddenly vanished, all my senses coming back as suddenly I felt I could breath, taking in a gasp of air as I collapsed to my back. I could feel my knees being repaired via symbiote support…
What… the fuck… was that…?
"What…" I muttered. "What the hell happened?" I asked all my Symbiotes.
"I don't fucking know but never do it again!" Cheat yelled.
"I…" I tried to think of something to say…but all I did was look at Lunatic, it looking…clean, pure…"What…did you do?" I asked my new weapon.
I got no response. I wanted to move but… shit… how much did that… take… out…of…me…