Chapter 19
A week later, Taylor found herself sitting on top of the tower that had once been the place of learning for her in the middle of the night. The place changed little over the past five years; The stone, or rather, crystal bricks still pristine. The corridor leading up to the tower was well-maintained. The only difference was the absence of a teleportation magic circle that has been erased.
Despite the familiarity and the fine weather and stillness of the night, Taylor's attempt to calm her mind by arrived early and used the free time meditating was met with little success. Her nervousness refused to subside and keeps rising the closer it gets to the appointed time.
After all, this will be the first time she starts practicing Yuuka's living parasol while fending off its attempt at turning her into a mindless, raging berserker. Assurance that tonight's minders could easily handle her in a mind-controlled state and snap her out of it notwithstanding.
After all, regardless of precautions, no one wants their mind violated.
Yumeko and Shinki showed up five minutes before the appointed time, signaling the end of her preparation as she stood up and greeted the senior and superior respectively.
Without saying anything, Yumeko placed her hand on Taylor's shoulder and lightly squeezed it; "Relax, Taylor. Agitating mind will only make it harder for you."
That action eased her nervousness a little, but then she noticed that someone was missing and guessed aloud; "Is that the reason why Haku isn't here?"
However, her guess was proven false by a soft chuckle from Shinki; "She could keep tabs on things with her familiars waiting just outside of your vision and can get here quickly should something unexpected happens. While she's not physically present doesn't mean she's not aware of how things are going here." Then her voice and manner became serious at the next moment; "After all, it wouldn't do for her to shirk her responsibility for suggesting this to you."
Shinki beckoned Taylor to stand in the center of the tower before her mind could wander to the one who wasn't there. A magic circle lit up as soon as she was in the center alongside Shinki and Yumeko, engulfing them with a transparent barrier.
"I thought you're going to take us elsewhere..." Taylor spoke up, somewhat disappointed and worried; "Wouldn't that be dangerous to the people if I failed to contain Yuuka's power?"
In response, Shinki walked in front of Taylor before spreading her arms wide; "This is the safest place for your private study into harnessing the forces of nature which were lost to the world of science and technology for many years. Why do you think that it wouldn't be the same for the new lesson we're about to conduct now when it's well-maintained?"
Taylor was still not fully convinced, but she'd trust her mistress's judgment for now. Yet again, her thought was thoroughly read like a book by Shinki judging from her soft smile and her next words; "And going to an uninhabited planet doesn't make it any safer when there're no people who may be of help around. There's no such thing as 'perfectly safe' when you think about it."
"I don't see how they will be of any help if someone as powerful as you cannot handle it," Taylor argued.
"You'd be surprised." Shinki replied confidently; "But I doubt it'd come to that consider how you've impressed Yuuka so far. And Yuuka's judgment of one's worth is rarely wrong as far as I can tell."
Taylor had a doubtful look on her face at that statement. This was the second person that praised her. After all, in her mind, how can she even compare to Shinki or Yuuka? The former is even more so, even if she keeps saying that she's not that great of a goddess on multiple occasions.
Knowing what Taylor was thinking, Shinki started to explain; "Taylor, the strength of one's mind is something that no one can influence except themselves. A defensive telepath may be able to detect and undo the effects of foreign mind manipulation. But that person's mind and soul will still be vulnerable to future attempts had they not making any efforts to rectify it."
"And what we're trying to do now is for me to resist others from influencing my mind. It's not something anyone can teach, is it?" Taylor said dejectedly.
Shinki shook her head in response and asked simply; "Whether malicious mind tampering or benevolent mind tampering, it is still messing with your mind, isn't it? And remember that defensive telepaths will not always be there for you. For they too have their life to live and duty to uphold, No?"
Taylor couldn't argue with that reasoning. So, it all went back to her practicing to control her cursed gift. And while it was a long shot, she and everyone here hoped that this endeavor will be the foundation for her pursuit of mind tampering resistance in the future.
That is if she mastered Yuuka's gift without turning into a mindless beast first.
Silently, a small dark portal rippled into existence beside Taylor as she shoved her hand in and pulled the living parasol out. As she observed the object with a slightly trembling grip, she felt how it looked so innocent in her hands. But that was just skin's deep and as soon as she began her lesson, that illusion will be no more.
"Before we begin," Shinki's voice cut through her musing and captured her attention to the woman standing and lecturing in front of her; "Remember that so long that you're aware of yourself and your state, then the mind influence on you is only surface-deep and you still have chances to rein it in. But if you lost to it completely and no longer aware of what you're doing…" she shrugged "…well, that's what I and Yumeko are here for."
"And do not be harsh on yourself if you fail." Yumeko added her encouragement; "There's a saying that the person or being who never makes any mistake is the one who never tries anything at all."
"But some failures will always be their last should they failed." Taylor quipped lightly, which earned a glare from Yumeko and a shaking head from Shinki which alerted Taylor that something was wrong; "Did I say something wrong?"
"You're not wrong…" Shinki spoke first while briefly sent a glance at Yumeko to stop her from speaking; "…but there's a thin line between being a realist and being a pessimist. Being a realist means that you're aware of your shortcoming and seeks to rectify or compensate for them. Being a pessimist means you're not only looking for the worst things to happen but also decided that fighting against fate is futile and give up."
'And giving up means you'll not succeed in stopping mind-influencing spells.' was the unspoken conclusion that Taylor could draw from the conversation and her response was obvious; "I'm not intended to fail today, Ma'am."
A smile graced Shinki's lips; "Well, time to put that word into action, shall we start?"
Taylor tightened her grip on the parasol and begins feeding it her power and her mental request to show her the way to wield it as a weapon…
…and almost lost her footing as the primal rage and thirst for killings slammed into her mind along with movements, stances, footwork, and maneuvering strategies honed by countless battles for survival. With the overwhelming urges to fight, Taylor's pupils dilated and glared at the figure standing before her – the enemy.
A loud metallic clang resounded as her parasol clashed with the blade in Yumeko's hand. Intercepted before it could harm her mistress despite the speed and suddenness of her action. But all this was barely registered to Taylor's clouded mind, whose only thought was to kill, to maim, and to see the enemy grovels and begs for mercy before her…
But then, Taylor's world exploded in pain along with the realization that she was currently lying on the ground with a bruise on her cheek, probably courtesy to Yumeko who was somehow standing between her and Shinki. And that her parasol was thrown aside to the edge of the barrier.
"I'd give you an eight out of ten for speed and ferocity in your attacks…" Yumeko began as she moved to help Taylor up on her feet. And she quickly continued without waiting for her to ask about what happened; "…but give you a one out of ten for your effort at resisting Yuuka's bloodlust."
"Why is it not a zero… ouch!" Taylor winced at the pain on her cheek when trying to ask Yumeko. Surprisingly, no laughs coming at her despite her poor showing after her bravado less than a minute earlier.
"Well, you snapped out of it after a single blow to the face." Yumeko nonchalantly explained while applying healing magic on the bruise; "From what I heard from the town guards, most first-timers will need to be knocked out for the rest of the day for a mental attack of this caliber to completely wear off. Sometimes not even that until we call a graduated defensive telepath to undo it."
As the pain lessened, Taylor wasn't sure if she should be proud of that achievement or not. And then Shinki spoke her opinion was even vaguer; "You should take pride in your achievement and your mental fortitude, but do not let it get to your head and remember that you're still a long way to become a master."
Sighing, Taylor decided that her thought would better spend trying to keep herself from getting controlled by bloodlust again instead of mulling about Shinki's opinion, but no ideas came up and it shows in her troubled expression which the other two quickly taking note of.
Shinki once again was the first to speak; "Like I and Yumeko said many times before; Do not be hard on yourself for not mastering anything in a matter of days. Just like your arcane, this could take years." and then she added; "And even then, remember that depending on who's the one using their mental attack on you, complete immunity might be impossible due to them embodied the concept related to 'mind manipulation'."
Taylor sighed at the reminder of the convoluted and confusing explanation regarding 'conceptual power' during her years of practicing magic. The gist she could understood was that the higher on the 'conceptual weight' totem pole one gets, the better they are at doing whatever related to that concept, rendering countermeasures put up by those with lesser weight class ineffective.
Regardless, it was still disheartened to know that she couldn't be the best when out there in the multiverses there will be someone who could smash through her efforts easily.
Seeing the slightly dejected look on Taylor's face, Yumeko patted her junior's back and try to encourage her a bit; "But even with such individual roaming around in the infinite multiverse, are you going to let yourself fall victim to mental attack by mediocre mind manipulation powers? Or are you going to make yourself so strong that only the best of the best, the only tiny fraction of those that can use mental manipulations, can even hope to do anything to you?"
Emboldened by her senior's words, Taylor's doubtful expression changed to a determined one. With her hand stretched out, she recalled the cursed parasol back into her grip and begin training anew…
She saw a desolated wasteland. Craters dotted the landscape of what probably once been a forest judging from what was left of trees around them. Mutilated and mangled corpses of creatures Taylor thought extinct long ago scattered throughout this warzone alongside humans.
It was the aftermath of an epic struggle for survival between superpowered humans and monsters worthy of fairy tales and myths. Except that she knows this battle happened in the forgotten past before the dawn of human civilizations.
Amidst the carnage, one humanoid creature standing in the middle of this place, blood-soaked wooden spear in hand. Its eyes were bloodshot as it glared at the sun above before its attention turned to the tree line in the distance where an unimaginable screech originated from. Predatory grins graced the creature's lips as well as anticipation in its heart to challenge the monstrosity that's about to burst forth…
And then the otherworldly monstrosity in black covered in spikes and tentacles that dwarfed those laid low around the battlefield shows up…
Taylor bolted up from her bed, fumbling around for her glasses for a moment before she remembered that she didn't have one for years. Calming herself down, she got up from her bed and went to the bathroom, and splashed some water on her face to clear her thoughts.
'What was that thing!?' Taylor thought as she dried her face up with magical heat. Tried as she might, she still shuddered at the visage of the eldritch creature she saw in her dream, or to be more precise, Yuuka's memories of the event in the ancient past of the Earth after she accidentally delved into what was inside the cursed parasol last night during the attempt to rein her bloodlust in.
'Never know that Endbringers were around since prehistoric time…' She shuddered as she walked toward the window and looked out to see a dim ray of light on the sky signifying the coming of dawn before she mentally correcting herself; '…or maybe they're something of similar capabilities.'
It was at this point that Taylor recalled that she was invited to stay the night in the castle because of the exhaustion from the 'training' previous night and felt embarrassed at her lackluster performance not seen since the first time she dived into the world of mystic arts.
Sure, she could snap out of the bloodlust and memories-induced trance with a slap. But needing to be slapped means that there's no progress on defending herself against mental attack at all.
At that sobering thought, Taylor remembered that she wasn't at Yang's house but in the servant quarter she shared with Yumeko as she walked back into the bedroom and saw Yumeko slowly getting up and climbed down from the top bunk. The head maid of the Pandemonium took one look at Taylor and asked with a concerned expression on her face; "Did you rest well last night?"
The ambiguity of her question would've angered the past paranoid Taylor and refused to reply. But the current Taylor understood that Yumeko care for her wellbeing and thus it wouldn't be appropriate to not responds in kind; "I'm… There's so much to think about that I feel like practicing to tame my parasol and my mental barrier was the least of my concern now."
"Hmm?" Yumeko hummed before asking; "Well, since we're up early, why not make our way to the kitchen and prepare breakfast for everyone in the castle? We can talk while working."
It was a good suggestion in Taylor's opinion; She could need something to stop her mind from straying to things that are not relevant right now.
The breakfast cooking session was done much quicker compared to the past. Taylor felt proud of herself as she put a finishing touch on the last plate of food to serve the inhabitants of the castle before the servants carried them out to the canteens. Confident in her skill at cooking that the taste wouldn't be out of place in some high-class restaurants despite the common ingredients utilized.
But when Taylor was about to continue her duty, she was stopped by Yumeko who told her to join Shinki at her office for today's breakfast, and the look she gave her told her that she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.
Taylor was fine with this arrangement though, as she wanted to talk about yesterday's experience too after being too exhausted by the experience to do so back then.
"Are you not going to change these old decorations at all?"
After exchanging the greetings, the two maids joined with the ruler of Makai for breakfast in the plain office with the same bookshelves, same tables, same work desk, which Taylor couldn't help but commented before she could've stopped herself. She wondered shortly afterward if it was nervousness or sheer lack of idea on how to start a conversation due to last night's experience, but that wasn't as important as what she did now.
Shinki and Yumeko didn't get upset by the question on the aesthetic choice out of the blue. Yumeko asked calmly instead; "Then what do you suggest?"
"I think… erm…" Taylor was about to reply but when her thought caught up with her mouth and realized that she had no idea at all and went silent.
The silence caused Shinki to giggled as she moved to defuse the situation; "Let this be your lesson, my child. Try to suggest solutions when criticizing someone goes a long way for your argument. Who knows? They may explain to you why they choose to do what they did."
"And what about your aesthetic?"
That question got Shinki to laugh softly; "Well, you certainly don't waste any time putting my lesson to good use, do you?" And then she answers with her hand scratching her chin in thought; "To be honest with you, I keep it bland so that it can convey to all cultures and races that come here that this is a place for doing business…" she paused a bit as Taylor coughed at the hypocrisy of having breakfast here with her 'family' but she recovered and quickly follow up with a shrug; "…well, most of the time anyway."
That elicited a smile on both of her daughters/subordinates. Seeing that the mood was lightened, Shinki moved on to another topic; "I will not judge you for the last night's performance, Taylor. What you found in there during your last attempt must be interesting to distract you like that. Mind sharing it with everyone?"
Taylor sighed at the question, not because of her mistress' nagging, but at the memory she witnessed.
"The food will go cold if we keep this up, Ma'am."
It was a lame excuse and Taylor knows it considered what she did during tea time with Yang a week back. Surprisingly, Shinki agreed but for a different reason; "Well, that's a good point, dear. Let fill our stomach first then."
After a quick breakfast and Yumeko stored the utensils and plates with her pocket dimension for later cleanup, they resumed their talk.
"Last night, I was distracted." Taylor began, as she recounted what she saw in Yuuka's memories, and has to embarrassingly admitted her lack of progress; "The techniques are not what occupied my mind, to my shame. It's the memories of the event long past that I saw there."
Shinki rose her eyebrow a little, prompting Taylor to continue; "The monsters and beasts in the ancient time were very impressive. But more impressive still was human's ancestors who stood against it and survived to become what they are today."
"But alas, those abilities declined into nothing as time goes by, save for selected few who sought refuge in this world and many beyond the human's realm, isn't it?" Shinki asked, which Taylor nodded in response at the accurate guess she made.
"I mean…" Taylor began, her eyes downcast as she explained; "How different my world would be if the majority of humanity still as capable as that? I have heard you and Yumeko mentioned this many times before, but only after seeing what we were once capable of that I realize how much of a loss it was."
She was slipping into a small rant at the next words; "All just because we insisted and talked ourselves into believing that such supernatural power couldn't possibly be real! That everything could be explained with science and technology. Or convinced that such power couldn't be anything but Evil and drove them away! And look what Earth Bet will become within the next decades!"
"Maybe such world exists in one of the unreachable realms in the infinite multiverse, Taylor." Shinki replied softly, unperturbed by the little rant Taylor had before she added; "But it is irrelevant to either this realm or your birthplace, isn't it? We cannot change the past after all. So, why wallowing in something that you cannot do anything about?"
Taylor sighed at the notion; "Yeah, I guess I was distracted for nothing then."
Shinki noted the tone she used and tries to comfort Taylor in her way as a response; "Don't be depressed, my dear. Think of this as another lesson; a distracted and unfocused mind is easy to manipulate. Not all mind manipulation technique employs brute force. The best doesn't' brute force at all. They will do subtle manipulations to guide you to do their bidding voluntarily, like slowly boiling a live frog instead."
"That would take a long time to take hold, isn't it?" Taylor understood that metaphor and asked.
"Maybe long, or maybe short. Again, it's up to the target if they realize what's going on." Shinki reiterated the important factor as a reply before adding; "I think you're past that 'Aware of what's happening.' already. It's just that you're like… what was it? Oh right, 'Watching a car accident' is it? You know it's horrible, you know you should do something, but you're so captivated by it that you can't look away."
It was a scarily accurate description of what Taylor went through last night if Taylor was to be honest with herself, to her shame. But at least she'd take that as a lesson to be learned and not repeat.
"That accident metaphor also applies to resisting mind manipulation, is it?"
Shinki nodded before giving advice; "Correct. But it'd do you well to remember that there're more ways to manipulate people without supernatural means in the world and multiverses. Just look at how a certain dictator on Earth, who died barely more than a decade before your rebirth here for example. He got to that position not by just force of arms, but by silver tongue and charisma as well."
Yumeko tilted her head in confusion in contrast to the understanding look on Taylor's face would be more priceless had the advice not remind her of the certain criminal organization back in her hometown and the horror stories she heard on the news back there.
'Pull yourself together, Taylor.' She reminded herself; 'That past is no longer of my concern. Finding a way home is like finding the correct sand grain on the beach… no, on the ocean floor. And even if Shinki got the correct reality, going back now may even remove my existence by causing a paradox.'
"I suppose there's no effective defense against the latter except experiences?" Taylor asked.
"Indeed, but who says it had to be first-hand experiences?" Shinki asked back with a smile.
"I see."
Yumeko then brought everyone back on the original topic; "Speaking of which. I think you and Milady are forgetting another thing; training in the art of parasol combat." her attention shifted toward Taylor with an accusatory look in her eyes, to which the junior avoids eye contact with as if aware of her guilt.
"Not much has been gleaned at all isn't it?"
Shinki's question went straight through Taylor's metaphorical heart as she felt yet another pang of guilt for failing her expectation again, but it was preempted by Shinki's next words "Perish that thought, my dear. What happened last night was a failure, but as Yumeko has told you, the one who never fails is the one who never done anything at all."
Taylor smiled a bit at the supposed encouragement; "I'll do better, I promise."
Shinki answered with an amused look on her face, "I believe that you would." but then she added; "But the one you need to convince isn't me, you know?"
Her worry must be obvious on her face as Yumeko quickly assured Taylor with a sarcastic remark; "After all the trouble we went through last night and will be in the future to come, are you still thinking that we'll leave you out to dry against Lady Yuuka?"
No matter how many times, hearing this still warms Taylor's heart that she has such a supportive family and authority figures right now. Though the regret of the previous life remains, she swore that this time around, she'd make sure to cherish what she has and protect it if need be.
"Now I think you should stop smiling and get back to work. Time waits for no one, my child."
And so, Taylor was burst out of her daydream, quietly muttered an apology to her mistress, and went back to work while trying to hide her red face from the embarrassment. But at least she had enough attention and focus to gracefully walked out of the door instead of running thanks to etiquette practice drilled into her for years.
Despite no one was laughing, she knew that it was wrong to be daydreaming during the conversation. Had Haku been around, she'd get chewed out for the lack of situational awareness which Taylor knows she deserved that when considered what she was practicing and aiming to achieve. But that was not important at the moment.
Child of the current ruler of the Makai or not, she has decided to continue her profession as a maid in Shinki's service and thus has upheld the deal. While part of her mind knows that asking for a favor from Shinki was possible, she squashed that thought and refused to fall to her former friend's level of abusing privilege in her previous life.
She could practice taming that damnable living parasol and her mental defense later. Monstrously strong demon masquerading as a seed vendor waiting to see her result in the future or not, it wouldn't do to shirk her daily responsibility after all.
Author's Note:
First of all, Happy New Year. I decided to forgo buying a new PC and got my Laptop a RAM upgrade instead due to the overinflated price tag of graphic cards nowadays. Oh well, hopefully my Laptop could be of use for a bit longer by this upgrade.
Anyway, there's not much to say except that there won't be violence for a while despite the source material of the crossover being memed to death with that escalation and no brake train thing. I'm not the kind of guy to write senseless violence whenever I tried my hands at fanfic writing. I don't know why, but I just can't do it.
Rate and Review as you see fit, until next time when the next chapter is done, Stay Safe.