*-Raion-*
It's been a wild ride since I got reincarnated here. My family immediately knew something was up when I used blood to communicate that I refused to be named Ares. The writing was on the wall. Literally.
My parents decided that I would be trained to be a butler/bodyguard to my big sister. Her name was Eris. Once I turned two I started speaking fluently and my parents had the head butler, Thomas, start teaching me how to be a proper butler. They said that once my body grew a bit more that I would start swordsmanship trading. They said I had to wait till I was 6. Annoying, but I could wait.
Thomas wasn't the best teacher, but I was able to fill in the gaps in his teachings by watching him and the other servants work around the castle. Sorry, the "manor". I swear this place is to big to be called a manor.
Something that was easy to notice was that nearly every servant was a beast kin. Every female servant was beast kin. I still had my sense of smell from before, and good gods the smell of lust was suffocating. There was one tower that just going near it was enough to make me faint.
So far I've only gotten compliments on my butler skills, and mom couldn't get over how "cute" I looked in my uniform.
'I swear if any of the others saw me like this I may just die of embarrassment.'
Thankfully I only had to do butler training three days out of the week. Otherwise I'd be too exhausted to hold a plate. Speaking of holding plates, that was something I struggled with for a while. I was born with super strength, and any time I picked up a plate it would shatter. Because of this I had to learn how to control my strength, and found that I could weaken myself by restricting the flow of mana going through my arms. It was basically second nature at this point.
"Ray! Come on! We gossa go!"
Today was one of the days where Eris would be pulling me around everywhere she went. Thanks to my help she's slowly learning to talk, and has started to act a little to much like Sauros for my comfort. Days like this were the norm though. On days where I wasn't training to be a butler I'd be following Eris around to better understand and learn her schedule. Since she was still two years that was just her running around doing whatever she wanted.
"I'm coming!"
*-Rudeus-*
I was now two months old, and there's only been a little change. I've barely progressed at all with my eyes. I can pick up 7 pounds (about 3.2 kilograms) now. Nothing has changed with my soul seeing, and I still don't know what my third ability is. Pin has managed to grow more though. Her nails are strong enough to actually cause harm to people. Before when she would use them they would just phase through people, but during a recent training session with Paul she tried to throw one through his leg to pin his shadow behind him, but he got stabbed instead.
Now she's been struggling having to think of new strategies. Her nails have also gotten longer. Before they were 2 inches long (5.08 cm). But now they were 6 inches (15.24 cm). She could now summon 5 at a time, and instead of throwing them, now they hovered at her fingertips and shot towards where she aimed them. What were once essentially throwing darts, were now deadly bullets if used correctly.
If I gave her a brief study on human anatomy she could definitely become a top tier assassin. Not that I would ever do that, but knowing her potential was scary.
Dad has been bringing home some meat from creatures he kills in the forest recently. Watching all the others get to eat real food while I was stuck breastfeeding was depressing.
Mom started up a clinic business in the village. Being the only person in the village who knows healing magic made it pretty easy to get business.
Lilia has been... well. Lilia. She seems to be trying to keep everything to a business and professional standard, but Pin has been trying really hard to make their relationship more of a friendship, instead of a young master and maid situation. Personally I liked Lilia's professionalism. It showed she was serious about her job, but I agree with Pin when she says everyone needs to take a break every now and again.
I'm now three months old. My eyes are basically the same, and Pin hasn't grown much either. Currently I was sitting in the middle of the living room surrounded by toys Pin had made for me. We called them toys to hide the fact I was actually training my eyes, but we're pretty sure Lilia figured us out. It's always her or Pin who picks up my "toys", and she was pretty suspicious of the 25 pounds (about 11.3 kgs) weighted toy blocks. They were the heaviest of my training items. I had a 2 pound marble set, a 4 pound bean bag, 5 pound teddy bear, 7 pound ball, 10 pound rattle, and the blocks. (.9, 1.8, 2.3, 3.2, and 4.5 kgs respectively). How she managed to make them all that heavy? I've got no clue. Any time I try and communicate to ask she just giggles at me.
No matter how hard I try to train my eyes I get no where. I've been training for 2 months and all I had to show for it was being able to pick up an extra 2 pounds (.9 kgs).
'Why aren't my powers growing? I was doing so well before! What changed?! It's all so FRUSTRATING!'
"Woah!"
I felt a sudden lightness come over me and looked around the room.
'... Uh oh.'
Everything was floating. It wasn't the same as when I picked stuff up and made it move though. All the stuff was just hanging around in the air.
"Hahaha. This is fun!"
Pin started laughing as she kicked from wall to wall. She'd barely push with her foot, and she'd propel herself across the whole room. Sometimes she'd do flips and twirls.
"Hey are y'all alright? There was a light and- Holy crap what's going on?!"
Paul walked through the front door and saw me, Pin, and the rest of the living room furniture floating around.
"Ah wah? P-pin whatever your doing you gotta stop."
"Huh! I didn't do it!"
"Then who-"
'No questions! Only play time!'
I started giggled as I pushed my hands towards Paul and did my best to remember the feeling of weightlessness. He kept trying to jump up and catch me, but eventually I got him floating too."
"Ooh, Gods. I think I'm gonna be sick."
'Hmm. If everything is weightless does that mean that I...'
I reached forward and my toy blocks moved where I wanted them to move. Next I imagined pushed myself, and I started moving towards Pin.
"Hahaha. Bah buh hav uh bab."
Pin grabbed me in her arm and giggled.
"Rudy. I have no idea what your saying."
I could feel my cheeks puff out as I prepared to go on a baby rampage.
'Oh boy. Where'd my consciousness go?'
*-Pin-*
"Huh?"
Rudy passed out in my arms, and all the stuff that was floating slowly placed itself back on the ground.
Paul ran outside and I could hear him throwing up. He slowly trudged back in as he wiped his mouth and looked at me holding Rudy. He didn't look happy.
"Pin. What was that?"
"Uh. So you know how I can make nails and do stuff with shadows?"
"I don't see what that has to do with whatever that was. Last I checked shadows don't float."
Oh he looked angry.
"It has everything to do with it actually. I can do that because of my magic eyes, and it seems Rudy also has magic eyes. Did you see whenever he was floating? The tiny dots in his eyes?"
"I couldn't see his eyes. I was to focused on the whole situation. I do remember dots in his eyes when he was born though. He made a bunch of lights appear in the room. So your saying he has magic eyes like you?"
"Y-yes sir."
He looked shocked. And proud? Or was that confusion? His face kept changing so I couldn't get a proper reading on him.
"Why are you calling me sir? I'm flattered but that seems really out of character for you. Especially towards me."
"Oh. Well... It's just that you looked really angry is all. It was pretty scary."
"Angry? Ah sorry about that. I'm not mad. I was just worried that you were doing something that might end up hurting Rudy. That you were doing something you thought you knew all about, but then ended up hurting someone. Like when you stabbed me with a nail."
"What?! You know I would never do something to harm Rudy, and I would never do anything around him if I thought I might do something wrong."
"I know you wouldn't, but I'm just saying. Think back to the nail incident. Through previous experience you and I both knew that that nail should have gone straight through my leg and into my shadow, but instead it stabbed into my leg. Your magic had changed and you didn't know it until it affected something. I'm just saying that you need to be extra careful when it comes to your magic. Okay?"
"Okay. And I promise to do my best to keep Rudy safe when he can't control his!"
'Ah hah! I know that face! That's pride! He's happy! I did good!'
"As long as we're on the same page. I'm getting back to my training. If anything happens at all you make sure to call my name. I'll be there in seconds."
"Okay. I'm gonna go put Rudy down for a nap. He seems tired."
"Haha. Please do."
I went up the stairs and placed Rudy into his crib. I went back down the stairs ready to make a snack when I spotted something in the living room corner. I got closer to get a better look. There was a box I hadn't seen before sitting in the corner.
It was a rectangular box. I opened the the top and found three small orbs.
"Wait these are?!"
Going from left to right the orbs were red, purple, and black. I reached down and touched the black one. I felt my mana drain as the orb ate it. Eventually the orb stopped consuming my mana. It rose up from the box and it's form rippled. It went from a large pearl to a slime like creature.
"Kumu!"
I wrapped my arms around Kumu, and felt its silky skin. You'd think it'd feel slimy, but it felt more like fine silk. It was an orb shaped creature that floated around. They were made by the fear of others and changed mana types based on their owners. They were sentient weapons made to act as both a weapon and pet. How'd I know all this? They were Phoebe's creations. She called them her magnum opus.
"If you're here than has Phoebe reincarnated as well?"
Kumu's eyes swirled around and it opened its mouth. After a bit I heard a voice talking in Japanese.
"Hello? Hello~?"
"Phoebe!"
"Pin?!"
It was Phoebe without a doubt.
"Yeah it's Pin. Where are you?"
"I've got no idea. What I do know is that wherever I am. I am royalty!"
"Really?"
K407
*-Phoebe-*
"It's a girl."
I looked around and saw a bunch of shocked faces.
"Its eyes."
"Why are they like that?"
"A blessed child?"
"What if it's cursed?"
A bunch of people started talking as they looked at me. I couldn't understand a word they were saying. They were all looking at my eyes. Why?
Oh right. Millis said that we'd be given special eyes didn't he? Also why are there so many people here?! Isn't the room meant to just hold the medical crew and the parents?! And these guys aren't even dressed like doctors! Wait a minute.
I examined the room more thoroughly.
'Fancy silk curtains lining windows larger than the door, fancy carpets, paintings that look like their straight out of the renaissance era... This isn't even a hospital room!'
I felt myself get lifted into the air. I was now face to face with a guy who looked to be in his mid 60s. He was dressed in really fancy clothes, and had a fairly large crown on his head. He exchanged words with a man. I couldn't understand what they were saying though.
"This child is a miko! They shall not be named. Naming a blessed child has proved disastrous in the past, and we must do our best to avoid these possibilities. The child shall be raised with the upmost care, so that they may serve Asura well!"
All the people in the room bowed to the man as he made some kind of decree.
He handed me to a maid and patted my head.
'Wait. Is this guy a king? And double wait is he my dad?! Am I a princess?! Oh heck yeah baby!'
After about a month I could definitely confirm. I was royalty. And not just regular royalty mind you. Once I was able to summon Akumu with my eyes I sent him to the library and had him learn the language. Now with him as my translator I was able to learn what the people were saying.
Apparently they were calling me a 'miko.' It's also apparently thought to be bad luck to name miko since they are blessed children. People thought this since the last time a miko was named he ripped off his brother's head or something. So far I was able to keep Akumu hidden from all the servants, but it wasn't easy. Well not all the servants. One of my bodyguards knew about Akumu. His name was Mars. From the intel Akumu could gather Mars came from a family called the Boreas family. He had red hair and red eyes. He was training to become a swordsman, but anytime Akumu tried to see him train with his master Akumu would sense death and back off.
One night an assassin had tried to break in and kidnap me. It just so happened to be one of the nights where Akumu was staying in the castle, which meant I was also awake. Instead of the crying of a child that alerted my guard. It was screams of terror. By the time Mars burst through the door Akumu had already painted the walls red. Unfortunately that meant Akumu was in battle mode. He was wearing the body of a large centipede with a head that vaguely resembled a dragon, but could also look like a tiger depending on how you looked at it. Mars lunged forward, but Akumu easily blocked his block.
Akumu spread himself around the room, and covered all the exits. He slowly peeled himself off leaving a pink crystal like substance to keep the walls covered. I reached my hand up and Kumu gathered on my palm and took the form of a mask. It was small and only covered my mouth and nose, but it would let me speak with Akumu acting as my translator. Akumu spread over my ears and would translate Mars for me as well.
"Okay. Testing. Testing. Can you understand me Mars?"
"Wuh! G-get off the princess you filthy monster!"
"Huh! You dare insult my own creation like that! For your information this is the princess speaking! Now apologize to Akumu. He's the who saved me from that assassin after all."
"Uh. What?"
"Sigh. It's like Raion all over again. Fine fine. I'll explain things to you. But only if you promise to be my loyal guard until I relieve you of your duties."
"Um as long as it's the princess I'm pledging loyalty to."
"Which you are."
"Then I shall give you my loyalty. So your majesty... um. What is that thing?"
"This thing is my magnum opus. My best creation, but that's just gonna leave you confused. So let's start from the beginning."
I told Mars a bit about the old world. I told him about who I was and what I wanted to do. I told him I had friends, and gave their names, but other than that I didn't want to reveal to much. Still have to test his loyalty and all that. I also told him of my master killing me.
"So you're a god?"
"I was gonna be. But then that asshole just up and killed us all. If not for our leader's teacher that would have been our end."
"I see. Well then Princess. You have my word. As Mars Boreas Greyrat, student of Auber Corvette the North Emperor. You have my undying loyalty."
"Good good. Now go. I'm tired."
"Understood."
'Well that was easy. Wouldn't you say so Akumu?'
Akumu slid off my face and purred as it laid me back down in my crib.
One day I was laying down in my crib bored out of my mind, when all of a sudden I felt I distant pulse of familiar mana.
'Akumu heel! And get Mars. I need him for something.'
A few minutes later Mars came rushing through my door. Kumu unwrapped himself from Mars's wrist as they hovered by my crib.
'Mask and upsies.'
Akumu wrapped around me giving me my mask, and sat under and around me like a floating chair. I hovered over to the nearest window.
'Ya know assassins would have a harder time getting to me if they put me in a room that wasn't connected to the outside.'
"Mars! That way! What settlements can be found in that direction?!"
"Oh um. Let's see that should be northeast so... That would be the Fittoa region, My lady. It holds The Citadel of Roa, and a bunch of small farming villages. It's the region that produces over 70% of Asura's wheat and some other miscellaneous crops. Why do you ask?"
"I feel as though one of my friends may have finally reincarnated, or at least they used a big enough pulse of mana for me to feel it. Look in the closet behind the dresser. There should be a box. Could you grab it for me."
"Right away."
Mars opened the closet and shifted the dresser over. He pulled out a box the size of your average drawer.
"Is this the one?"
"Yes. Akumu please deliver that box as close to the mana signature as you can."
Akumu sat me back down my crib, and ate the box straight out of Mars's hands.
"Wuh!"
Akumu flew over to me and laid behind my head. He dimmed for a moment and his eyes and mouth disappeared. Then they were back and Akumu nodded to me. He became my mask again.
"Thank you Mars. You are dismissed."
Mars left and closed the door. Barely any time later Akumu started pulsing.
'A call already?'
Putting my hand on Akumu's head I spoke using telepathy.
'Hello? Hello~?'
'So you, Thorn, and Raion are all in the Fittoa region?'
"Yep."
'What the heck man! Millis said we'd been spaced out, but from the sound of things I'm being separated from you guys!'
"Well to be fair Paul and his party found me on the south part of the central continent. Zenith got pregnant when we were near the east coast, and you and Raion were born relatively close to each other. It's just that in time we got closer together. Once you get older maybe you can come join us?"
'Well obviously! I'm gonna be stuck in this castle till I'm who knows how old. Think you can be my pen pal?'
"Wouldn't it be called a 'Pin' pal?"
'Uuuugh. Raion was a horrible influence for you.'
"Oh come on! It was kind of funny."
'It was a little funny. But can you answer? Will you be my pen pal? The only other person I can talk to is Mars, and I haven't gotten him to be my friend. I was the one who got him to swear his loyalty to me, but you'd think casual conversation would become the norm eventually.'
"Yeah I'll be your pen pal. And this Mars fellow sounds interesting. What's his deal?"
'It's nothing too interesting. Except for one bit. So he's from this family called the Boreas family. I had Akumu do some digging, and apparently the Boreas family is a branch family. They are a part of the Greyrat nobility. It's split between Boreas, Notos, Zephyrus, and Euros. Akumu found out that the Boreas family has this tradition where the sons of the family head fight, and whoever wins becomes the new family head. The family head stays in the capital and does all sorts of important business. Whenever another Boreas family member has a child, if the child is male then the child is sent to the family head. They say it's to help raise possible family heads, but in reality it's just a cheap way to stop the other Boreas' from revolting. I told this to Mars and he took it fairly well. According to him he's positive that James is his father. That's the head of the Boreas family by the way.'
"..."
'Pin?'
"So... uh. If I told you something you'd keep it a secret right?"
'Well yeah. Who am I gonna tell?'
"You can't tell Mars!"
'Ow! Okay you don't have to shout. I'm using Akumu as Headphones so no one hears you. That hurt. And I won't tell Mars. I promise.'
"Sorry. But um. Raion was actually born into the Boreas family. He's working as his big sister's bodyguard to keep his identity hidden."
'Woah for real! You gotta keep me updated on this!'
"Well I didn't know it was relevant. Sorry."
'It's fine. Don't worry about. I'll keep an eye on things in the capital and give you a heads up if someone finds out about him. I miss my Kumu network. Making those three for you, Thorn, and Raion took up all my space.'
"All your space? What does that mean?"
'You said your eyes gave you powers that started weak, but grow when you train right?'
"Yeah. Do your's not do that?'
'Not necessarily. My eyes give me the ability to create Kumu, but instead of them being weakened by a lot. They are weakened a little bit, and the amount I can create is limited. Based on the strain my body was put through making those Kumu for you, and the fatigue I'm still feeling. It's probably going to be a couple months before I can create more.'
"Oh I see. I wish you didn't have to go through that for us."
'It's fine. Besides I promised that I'd make everyone a Kumu after our exams. Since the day we were meant to take them has passed I've decided to make us all one.'
"Well thank you. I'll try to see what I can do to get Raion's to him."
'Thanks Pin. I'm gonna turn in for the night. I'm exhausted.'
"Okay, but just so you know it's still before dinner."
'Ugh. Doesn't feel like it. Talk to you later.'
"Talk to you later."
*-Pin-*
'So Phoebe's royalty huh? Oh shoot! I forgot to ask what her new name was. I'll just have to ask next time. Now what to do with these.'
I looked down at the box containing the two dormant Kumu. I had to find some way to get Raion's to him, and I didn't know what to do with Rudeus's. I had mine wrapped up and packed around my wrist so that it looked like a black bracelet, but I couldn't touch these or else they'd take my mana and become mine. I couldn't just give Rudeus his right now either since he was asleep, and based on how much it took from me, he didn't have the mana reserves for the consumption to activate his.
After a bit of careful maneuvering I was able to slip the two Kumus into two pillow cases. I hid them in a loose floorboard under my bed.
'That should keep them safe for now. I'm pretty sure Lilia will be preparing dinner soon. Phoebe and I talked for a long time.'
I peaked into Rudy's room and saw he was still napping. I went down stairs and found Lilia laying out some potatoes and herbs.
"Are we doing potato stew again?"
"We are. Is that a problem young miss?"
"Oh no not at all! I really like your potato stew actually. It's one of my favorite foods, and that's counting some of the foods from the other world."
Lilia used a hand to hide her mouth as she giggled.
"I'm proud to be receiving such praise from you young miss."
"You know you can just call me Pin ya know."
I puffed out my chicks for extra effect!
"Im afraid I shall keep referring to you as young miss so long as I serve you. Sorry to disappoint."
It wasn't very effective!
"It's fine. So let's get started!"
Rudy was now 5 months old. I'd talk to Phoebe every other day, and she's told me some interesting things.
Mars was starting to have doubts about James being his father. Apparently one of James's servants brought back a red haired baby, and James told Mars and the other boys that he is their new brother. Mars was starting to get anxious, and was having panic attacks, so Phoebe had to make him a mini Kumu (Or a Minikyu for short). It wasn't sentient and stayed the shape of a bracelet. It would allow the two to communicate to each other, and would help Phoebe keep his anxiety under control. Since he got his Minikyu we let him join in on our calls. We ended up telling him about the Boreas tradition.
Apparently James, his wife, and most of the other Boreas boys in the capitol had brown hair. Phillip was one of the few with red hair.
He asked me some questions about the other Boreas Greyrats, and got quiet when I told him about Hilda, her red hair and red eyes, and how her first two sons were taken from her. I told him about all the others excluding Raion. It's not that I didn't trust him. He was Phoebe's personal guard after all. I was just keeping my promise. Since then he just gives us info if we ask for it, and stays quiet the rest of the time.
I also learned that Phoebe didn't have a new name. Apparently it was bad luck or whatever, to name a miko. Mars told us about someone called "The Head-Wripping Prince". He was a miko in the Shirone kingdom who killed his brother in their shared crib. His skin was said to be as hard as steel, and his strength was equal to a hundred men. He sounded more monster than man from how Mars described him.
I have grown more with my eyes in the past 2 months, and Rudy has grown a little as well. I can now take on a ghost like form. My body shifts into a living fog cloud and I can phase through walls. Rudy can see me when I do this, but the others have no clue about it. I tested them all to make sure. I popped up through the cooking pot when Lilia was in the middle of cooking some vegetable soup, I grew out of the ground like a zombie when Auntie was tending to her plants, and I jumped through Caravaggio when Paul was brushing his mane. My nails were also able to freeze Paul in place for ten seconds.
Rudy had grown a little, but not as much as me. He managed to learn the ins and outs of making things zero-gravity, and was focusing on that until he could break past his wall. He would make things float and then use the tiniest bit of his magic eyes to push it around. From what we could tell making things zero gravity only used mana at the start. But when he used his gravity magic to move stuff it used mana constantly to keep the spell in affect. So he would make things zero gravity, and would then focus on small points to push it with gravity magic.
Speaking of Rudy, Phoebe and I decided on when to give him his Kumu. When they got here I surmised that he didn't have enough mana to link with the Kumu and was gonna wait until he had enough to link to give it to him. After talking to Phoebe about it she said to wait until his 5th birthday, since that's when he'd have his first party, and 5 years should give him plenty of time to grow his magic reserves. This world had birthday parties at ages 5, 10, and 15. It was odd, but Paul said that they were pretty big parties so I guess it was worth it.
She said that as long as Mars and I had our Kumus she could wait for Rudy to get his. Though she said it would be better if I could find a way to get Raion his as soon as possible. Raion hadn't let out any huge mana pulses like Rudy did, so while she knew he was in Roa she couldn't pin point him. I'm pretty sure I knew how to get it to him though.
At the end of every month Paul leaves for three days. During that time he makes a trip to Roa to give a report to Philip. He leaves at lunch the first day, so he can get there before dark, stays all day the second day, and returns by dinner on the third day. I asked if I could go with him on his next trip, and after a bit of convincing I managed to convince him to let me go. We'd be leaving today after lunch.
"You have all your stuff packed?"
"Yep."
"Clothes and sleep ware?"
"Yep."
"You've got you-"
"I've got everything Paul. This isn't my first time packing a bag."
"Fine fine. Put your bag by the door and let's dig into this stew. I slept through breakfast and I'm starving!"
"Well this place hasn't changed much."
Paul looked over at me and raised an eyebrow.
"This place? Change? Ain't happenin'. The most change this place has had in the past ten years is the new bakery we passed by on the way here, and that place is having its 8 year anniversary soon."
"Oh. Guess I expected to much, huh?"
"Just a bit. Speaking of change though, you seriously haven't changed at all since we found you. Physically I mean. I can tell you've grown mentally. I'm just worried."
"Well. To be honest? I don't think I will grow."
Paul looked at me shocked.
"Oh? Is that a sky folk thing or..."
"We'll just call it intuition. 'Kay?"
Paul watched me for a bit and the sighed.
"Alright. Besides any time you have a face like that I know it's something you don't want to talk about."
"Face?"
"Yeah. You made that face a lot back when you first joined our party. You'd make it anytime someone asked you about where you came from or about your friends. You stopped making it somewhere around the 6 month mark. After that you started telling us about all of them. Your friends I mean. Now that I think about it doesn't Philip's kid have the same name as one of your friends?"
'Crap! I honestly never thought Paul could link the two. Maybe he's not as dumb as I thought?'
"Ah it's that face again. Guess it's just coincidence."
'Would it be better to tell him? I don't know. I have to get to Raion once we get to the estate, but I doubt he's just gonna let me leave his sight.'
"Um. It's actually not as much a coincidence as you think. You see..."
By the time I finished telling Paul about Raion we had arrived at the manor. I only told him about Raion's reincarnation. I didn't know what he'd do if he found out his son was a reincarnate. I already had to swear him to secrecy by threatening him with the threat of going from being named Paul to being named Patricia. Also I learned I can make spikes appear from shadows. Pretty nifty.
Currently we were walking towards the entrance of the manor. Paul knocked on the door, and it was opened after a couple minutes.
"Sir Paul, good to see you. And if I remember correctly it is miss Pin?"
"Mhmm."
"Right. I take it you're here to make your monthly report?"
"Yep. I hope its not a problem I brought Pin with me."
Thomas shook his head and moved aside so we could go in.
"Not at all sir. Please give your bags to Gwen over there, and she shall put them in your rooms."
He motioned over to a beast women. She had blond hair and cat ears. She also had a tail and blueish green eyes. Paul went over and handed her our bags. She headed off towards the east wing.
"Follow me please. I'll lead you to a waiting room while I alert the masters of your arrival."
We walked through the west wing for a bit and Thomas was walking towards the waiting room door.
"Is that Pim?"
I turned around and saw Eris running down the hallway. Behind her was Raion.
'Is... Oh my Gods he's wearing a butler outfit.'
"Hey Eris and Raion too. I didn't think I'd be seeing you so soon. You look good in that suit by the way."
Raion slumped his shoulders as he saw me trying to stifle a laugh. I was failing terribly, but I was trying to let him keep some dignity.
"Pin please. Don't tell the others. I'm only posing as a butler-in-training until I can start my swordsmanship training."
'Not tell the others? Sorry but your a bit late there bud. That message should have already gotten to Phoebe.'
"Hey! Later I have a gift for you. From Phoebe."
"Really!" He leaned in and started whispering. "Do we know where she is specifically?"
"I'll tell you later."
"Fine. Is Paul here for business or a visit?"
Paul looked at us and ruffled my hair.
"I'm here on business. Why don't you kids run along. I'm gonna give my report to Philip then I'm going into town."
"Pim! Come on! I'll show you play paces!"
Eris took my hand and started running. I couldn't bring myself to correct her about my name.
'She's just so cute!'
*-Rudeus-*
Pin had gone with Paul on a trip to Roa. She said she wouldn't be back for about three days, so it was just me, Mom, and Lilia. In other words it was Mom and Lilia trying to find ways to communicate with me since Paul wasn't here to find out about my reincarnation. Mom was trying to learn what kind of person I was, because in her words.
'The student of Millis himself must have been a wonderful role model!'
Pin had only ever told their party about our accomplishments, so when it came to personalities they didn't know much.
They had tried talking to me directly, and while I had gotten to the point where I could understand them, I myself still couldn't form coherent words. My vocal cords just weren't developed enough. Then they tried the yes or no path, and while that worked for some of Mom's questions it left more to be desired. Mom tried writing letters on some paper and tried to have me point to them. It would have been the perfect plan, but I unfortunately still didn't know how to read.
Currently Mom was slumped over in a chair sulking about not being able to talk to her sacred baby, and Lilia was making dinner. I was "playing" with toys in the living room. I had mastered the art of making things zero gravity, but I was still trying to pick things up with gravity magic normally. I was finally able to pick up the rattle, but after 3 seconds I had to put it down since I had almost passed out.
"My little Rudy is just a magical prodigy isn't he!"
Ah. It seems Mom has gone from her sulking mode to doting mode. Maybe I should start practicing alone.
"To be fair Lady Zenith, he holds knowledge of another world. If young master Pin's words are true, which all evidence proves it to be, then the young master is already 10 years old."
"Well I guess your right. But Pin also said that our world's magic is nothing like what she's used to! So maybe Rudy could be good at our kind of magic to! I'll have to teach him healing and detoxification magic once he's older! Oh I can't wait!"
"He may. I have no doubts that if his mana allows him then he shall gain as much power as he can."
Mom chuckled into her hands, and Lilia continued to chop up potatoes. Feeling tired I let out some blubbered nonsense and raised my hands towards mom.
"Oh? What is it Rudy?"
Mom walked over and picked me up. I laid my head down on her shoulder and fell asleep.
*-Zenith-*
"Oh? I guess he must have been tired."
I went and sat back down at the table. I looked back down and watched my little baby sleep peacefully.
'A student of Millis themself. I wonder what that was like. That Raion boy said that the Millis faith was filled with misunderstandings. How much of it is true then? When he's older I'll need to ask Rudy.'
Sitting here watching my baby sleep I started thinking back to my own childhood.
I was born in the city of Millishion, the capital city of the Holy Country of Millis. Growing up in a noble family I was taught the teachings of Saint Millis, and many other curriculums. I always had good grades, and my behavior was so good that people started calling me the "Millis young lady standard."
My younger sister however was a different story. Maybe it had been because I was the perfect daughter that they had always wanted, but when it came to Therese my parents held her on a fairly loose leash. They let the girl become a knight for Millis's sake! She could go and gallivant around with her weapons and armor, while I was forced to study, and practice to be a good wife to whichever earl or duke my parents picked for me.
On my 15th birthday I got into my first argument with my parents. In the end I ran away. I started adventuring for a while. Healers were in high demand, and due to my inexperience I ended being underpaid, overworked, and even used as a meat shield to guard against monster attacks.
But it all changed one day. A little girl, barely 10 years of age with one arm beat up the people I was partying with after they had beat me. That girl introduced me to her party. People who I now call old friends, even though I'm still barely 20. I stayed with that party, and even though he was a sleezy womanizer, I fell for Paul. I made him promise that he would never sleep with any other women again, and even though I knew he lied when he said yes. I couldn't hold myself back.
I ended up getting pregnant. I was so scared. Scared that the party would see me as a burden and leave me behind. Scared that Paul would just move onto the next women he could get his hands on. Scared that I'd be all alone, and have to crawl back to my mother, and beg for her help.
But that didn't happen. Paul took responsibility and took me as his wife.
We disbanded our party and Pin joined us as we left for the Fittoa region in the Asura kingdom. Apparently Paul had a cousin who owed him a favor, and planned to use that to get a stable income job. While at the Boreas Greyrat manor Pin met up with a friend from her old world. He claimed that their other friends would reincarnate as well, and that one of them was the direct student of Saint Millis themselves. He also revealed that some of Millis's teachings were warped and miscommunicated. To bear a child that was taught by Saint Millis himself. One could only dream of such a thing. But I didn't have to.
I'll never forget the day Rudeus was born. It was a long and painful process. But with the help of our new maid, Lilia. Rudeus was born. I was terrified at first. He was born with green hair, pitch black eyes, and a black right leg. But as if it were to ease my worries he giggled to his heart's content and raised his hands. Dots flickered in his eyes and beautiful lights started dancing around the room. I'll never forget that feeling. I laughed along with everyone as it felt as though my worries, sorrows, and burdens were all taken away. If only for a little bit. After that Pin confirmed it for me. My baby was none other than Thorn, a student of Millis.
He's been a wonderful child. He never causes trouble and never cries. At five months old he started floating around since his leg doesn't let him crawl. My little Rudy. Cursed by this tainted leg, yet you seem to always be in good spirits. I wonder. What goes on in that little head of yours to keep you in such good spirits?
*-Rudeus-*
I quickly dashed to my right, barely avoiding a fire bolt as it zoomed past me and blasted a whole through another cage. I looked to my left and saw my forcefield following me at a perfect speed. Inside a quivering girl with brown and pink hair clung onto the cloak I gave for her to cover herself with. Now I bet you're wondering how I got in this situation? Well let's roll back the clock a bit shall we.
The name's Thorn. I'm 8 years old and am the only student of Millis. A Saint supposedly from another who has large quantities of knowledge of healing, barrier, and light related magic. Back when I turned five I woke up and found myself in a huge castle. The gods had faked the death of me and four other children. They called us the Godkin. The other four had formed a little group and pulled me into it. I mostly stayed to myself though. I was to scared of being a burden to actually try and get to know them.
Over a couple of months though, they never gave up on me. They'd invite me to go to some cafe, park, or some other place. I went cause I didn't want to be rude, and over time I slowly started opening up to them. Raion was carefree and didn't care for pleasantries, Kuroi was calculative but had a comedic side to him, Pin was just as carefree as Raion and even more reckless, and Phoebe... well. I could never really get a read on Phoebe.
I've always been able to understand a lot about a person just from having one or two conversations with them, but when it came to Phoebe I could never understand her. In one interaction she seemed cold and calculative and in the next she was warm and comforting.
On our 7th birthday she revealed to me why. We were having a small party to celebrate us all becoming a year older, but about half way through the party I saw Phoebe slip into the woods.
I followed her to a cliff side where she was laying down staring up at the stars.
"Um... Phoebe? Are you alright?"
She glanced up at me and I could see that her eyes were bloodshot. She sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees.
"No. I'm not... I don't belong here. Not with the rest of you."
"What? That's not true!"
"It is! You- you wouldn't understand! Okay?! I just. I don't want to hurt any of you."
"Phoebe. Why do you think you'd hurt us?"
"Because I... I'm... a monster."
"You're not a monster Pho-"
"Yes I am!"
Her voice became distorted. It almost sounded like a growl.
Phoebe spun around and glared at me. The areas around her eyes cracked like a broken doll, and her mouth cracked and spread from ear to ear.
"I'm a monster. Just look at me. I'm not like you. I'm a freak! That's what it means to be a Goddess of Fear! To cast away your humanity and let despair be your normal state of mind. I've put on a mask to stop you all from worrying, but I can never remember what role I'm supposed to play. Am I warm? Am I cold? She I be happy or sad? What should I do? What should I say? To do all these things but never be... me. I'm just tired."
I walked over and sat by Phoebe. She showed me her real form. I might as well show her mine. I sat down and let the veil go. My white hair flowed down to my back, and an extra set of arms appeared at my shoulders. My purple skin seemed to glow under the moonlight.
Phoebe's eyes widened as she saw my transformation. One pair of my arms wrapped around my legs and the other pair grew flowers with magic. When the flowers were of moderate size it would pick the flowers and slowly start weaving the stems together.
"I may not be able to understand you Phoebe, but will you let me try? I too know how it feels to wear that mask. I just had the luxury of thinking I knew what I was doing, but my time with all of you has proven me wrong. I may be socially awkward and I may be bad at making friends. But I know now that when I do make friends. Real friends. I don't get that same feeling of anxiety when I want to crack a joke, or sing a song. So what do you say? Wanna help me help you take off your mask?"
I reached out a hand offering Phoebe a flower crown. She looked at it, then looked at me. She carefully took the flower crown, being as gentle as she could be she placed it on top of her hair. She looked at the ground and smiled.
"Thank you. I think... I think I'd like to try. To try and take off this mask."
"Well then." I stood up and offered her one of my hands. "How should we start? Cause I have no idea what I'm doing."
Phoebe took my hand and laughed out loud. Her voice going from a distorted one to a more feminine type. As she steadied herself on her feet she looked at me and hugged me.
"Thank you. Thank you Thorn. If we could have more talks like these. I think that will be enough."
"O-okay. Are you free next weekend?"
"Hahaha. It almost sounds like your asking me out on a date. And yes I am. Same place?"
"Same place. Now let's get back to the party shall we?"
We went back and no one had even noticed we had left. They were to busy struggling playing twister to even look in our direction.
And so every week for the next 6 months Phoebe and I would meet up at that cliff, and just talk. Sometimes she'd vent and sometimes I'd vent. We even gave each other pointers in our own forms of magic. It was difficult to learn someone else's magic, and even more so if you specialized in one type. Becoming a god in a type of magic, like space or fear, usually meant that we wouldn't be able to learn other magic. It would just be too difficult. But if you were to have the god of the magic you were learning help you with tips, it could get just a little bit easier.
Suddenly one day Phoebe disappeared. None of us could find or contact her, and even her teacher Daeos could find her. I plunged my self into her search and couldn't find anything until another six months had passed. Our 8th birthday had already come and gone, but that wasn't anywhere near my mind at the moment. I had finally gotten a lead from Asmodius. I don't like dealing with sins, but when he told me he might know where Phoebe was I had to deal with it.
She had been abducted by some humans working together with some high ranking devils to capture sex slaves for hell's most heinous of customers. Since it was a deal of lust, whenever they signed the magic contract Asmodius was able to sniff out the contractors and got me Phoebe's location. I was trudging through the Amazon forest looking for a peculiar door.
'Assuming Asmodius told the truth it should be right... bingo.'
Looking ahead of me I saw a set of double metal doors being guarded by three individuals. I couldn't help but notice the horns and glowing gun of the middle soldier.
'Demons and enchanted weaponry. I'd normally fight you guys in some epic battle scene, but I'm short on time. I've gotta get Phoebe out before they move the cargo again.'
Every five days all slaves were teleported to a new facility using new teleportation magic circles. The circles were changed each time making them impossible to trace. I had until midnight tonight to get Phoebe out otherwise I'd lose her.
'Let's get started shall we.'
I rushed forward and expanded razor sharp and thin wires from my fingers. I shredded the guards up and raced into the building.
After 8 hours of searching I had finally found her. Bound in magic sealing chains and without clothes. Phoebe cowered in her cage. She was covered in scars and bruises.
I used one of keycards I took from one of the guards I killed and opened the cage.
"N...no. Pl...ea...se. No... more."
"Phoebe. It's me."
Her body jerked as she moved her head to look back at me.
"T-t-Thorn? Is... is that r...really you?"
I undid my cloak and wrapped it around her. I undid my veil and kept the cloak in place with one set of hands as I unlocked her chains with the other set.
"It's gonna be okay. They can't hurt you anymore."
An alarm suddenly started blaring around us. I quickly formed a forcefield around Phoebe and willed it to follow me as I ran through the facility. Large robots nearly 5 times my size started poking their heads and cannons through the walls. After locking on they fired fire bolts towards their target. Which just so happened to be little old me.
'Why did there have to be more magic infused tech?'
After running the equivalent of multiple marathons I finally got Phoebe and myself out of there. I pulled together a bunch of space magic, and caved the place in on itself. I created a small pocket dimension and made a bed for Phoebe to rest on. It'd only exist for an hour, but that should be enough time for me to rest up and get enough energy to fly us home.
"W...hy? Why'd yo...u look for m..e."
I laid Phoebe on the bed and covered her with a blanket.
"Because Phoebe. You're the only one knows me. The real me. I haven't even shown this form to Millis for crying out loud. I'd go so far as to consider you my best friend. Is it wrong of me to want to save my best friend?"
"B-best... friend? I... I never thought I'd be a-able to have friends, and.. to think I can c-call you my best... Thank you. Thorn."
"That's what best friends are for. Here have some water."
I reached into another small pocket space and got her a glass of water.
"I promise Phoebe. I'm gonna get you home, and I'm gonna keep you safe."
On that night, I killed over 700 people, and saved 1. Of those 700, 470 of those people were innocent slaves caught in the crossfire when I collapsed the facility. At the time I hadn't cared, but I feel the weight of their blood on my hands. I could've used smaller scales spells. It was overkill, but I was so focused on saving my friend that I just went and killed all those inside.
"Hah buh!"
I looked around as the sleep in my eyes slowly smudged away. I looked around and found myself laying on top of Mom's chest. Mom was sleeping and we were covered by a very comfortable blanket.
'Guess mom wanted some cuddle time. Maybe I should show more affection to her? I've been kind of distant, and only call to her whenever I'm tired, hungry, or need a new diaper. I'm not exactly sure what you're supposed to do with moms.'
"Oh? Is Rudy awake?"
I looked back up and saw mom's eyes hovering over me. She pulled me up and rubbed her face against mine.
"That nap was just what I needed. Would you like to go see my garden Rudy? Since you have your knowledge and magic you'll be fine right?"
I looked back up and nodded my head.
'I haven't been outside yet. I've only been able to watch through the window as dad and Pin train.'
"Okay let's go!"
Mom brought me back downstairs and took me to the garden. It was a small area in our front yard. She had trees and herbs planted in the garden. She went over by the tree and sat down. She held me firmly in her lap and started pointing at all her herbs. She started to explain them all to me, but my brain is still physically a baby's, so I probably wasn't going to remember them.
Looking over I saw a small rose right by mom's foot. I tried reaching over to it, but mom's grip was to tight.
"Oh? Does Rudy want the rose? Here."
Mom picked me up and helped lean me near the rose. I reached forward and missed. My hand reached further and touched the ground. All of a sudden I felt a familiar feeling run through my eyes. It was similar to when I used my eyes for gravity magic, but it was ever so slightly different. A bunch of flowers suddenly started sprouting from the ground all around us.
"Oh my! Is that you doing this Rudy? This is beautiful!"
"And concerning."
"Huh?"
Mom and I looked up and saw a big man. He was dressed in armor and behind him were 12 other masked warriors. The man had gold eyes and silver hair. He wore a scowl on his face as he looked down at me.
"I must inspect that child. He has all of the Laplace factors and is likely to be Laplace reincarnate. Give him to me, for I am Perugius Dola, the Armored Dragon King."
"What?"
I felt... scared. I had only felt like this once before. This feeling that I was going to die. I had felt this whenever I was looking up at Zeus as he killed me. I wasn't going to let that happen again. Especially if my mom could get involved.
I raised up my hands and called for every magic I could get a hold of. I saw their souls shining brightly, the sky went purple as we all were raised into the air, and vines shot up from the ground wrapping around Perugius and the 12 soldiers behind him. But just as soon as it began it ended. The sky went back to normal, we all slowly fell to the ground, the plants I had summoned withered away, and my vision went black.
'I'm probably gonna die, but at least I may have saved Mom. I hope the others sensed it. A last ditch effort. Expanding as much mana as possible in a single second. Our universal distress signal. Welp. Guess that's it then.'
*-Raion-*
"Ah. Don't you just love a good cup of tea Ms.Eris?"
"I do! It's quite nice. Some more please, Raion."
I sighed as I poured Pin and Eris some more tea. Pin had joined Paul so she could come visit us, and unfortunately just so happened to be here during a spot on my schedule where I had butler duty days 2 days on a row. She took this opportunity to teach Eris about tea parties, and using every possible moment to poke fun at me for my new temporary occupation.
'The king of beasts wearing a uniform and pouring tea?' Or 'The god of war bowing down to mere children?'
Thorn was right. I shouldn't have teased her as much as I did back then. It was all coming back to bite me now.
"Now now Raion. Cheer up! I have a gift for you. Remember? Ms.Eris is it possible for Raion to take a short break from his duties? This is actually a very important gift."
"Oh okay. And just call me Eris! You're cool!"
A smile spread across Eris's face as she made her declaration.
"Okay then. And here Raion. It's for you."
Pin handed me some sheets wrapped around some kind of ball shaped object.
"I had to make sure that I and none of the others touched it. Go on! Unwrap the sheets."
I slowly undid the sheets and found a dark red deflated sphere sitting in my lap. Quizzically I looked over at Pin.
"You've touched it. Pour some mana into it."
"Whatever you say."
I put my hands on the ball, and poured my mana into it. It took almost all of my mana, but just as I was about to pass out the connection stopped. The ball re-inflated and become a slightly lighter shade of red. It grew eyes and a mouth and nuzzled up next to me.
"Wait. Is this a Kumu?!"
"Yep. Courtesy of the 4th princess and blessed child of Asura. Phoebe."
"Princess? So she's royalty?"
"Yep! And her knight might be your brother."
"... Huh?"
"Yeah yeah I know. It a lot to throw on a person, but I need to know. Do the parents of the Boreas males get to name their children before their taken? This information could help us greatly."
"Um yeah. Hilda told me about it. Whenever a baby is born an envoy from the capitol checks the child's gender. If it's a girl they leave, but if it's a boy they take the child after it is named. I haven't asked what my elder brothers' names were. It's... a sore subject."
The Kumu that was nuzzling into my chest backed up its eyes started spiraling.
"Hello? That you Raion?"
"It is. Good to see you Phoebe."
"Same. So quick question. About how much of your mana did that take?"
"Oh. Ummm. Almost all of it. Had it taken anymore I would've passed out."
"So Pin, can you use Raion as our measurement how long do you think it'll be until Thorn can activate his Kumu. We may be able to give him his earlier than we thought."
I looked over at Pin who was staring at me with blank eyes.
"This just isn't fair."
And now she was pouting. I patted her shoulder.
"What's not fair? She was just asking a question."
"Well yeah but it took half my mana to activate my Kumu. It took almost all of Raion's to activate his, and comparing Raion's mana levels to Rudy's is just... sad."
"Why? Are Thorn's mana levels that low?"
"The opposite. His mana levels are nearly triple Raion's. I'm just confused since my mana levels are barely bigger than Rudy's. That would mean that it took half the mana for Raion to awaken his Kumu than for me to awaken mine."
"Hmmm. That is odd. Maybe it's got something to do with me making the Kumu through these magic eyes instead of traditional fear magic? Either way I think we can manage to give Thorn his Kumu by his first birthday instead of his fifth."
"Sounds good."
"Thank you for the Kumu Phoebe. I'll be sure to take good care of it."
"Please do. Now I must get going. It seems I have some kind of appointment today. See you all later."
Kumu's eyes returned to normal, and it started floating the room as Eris started chasing it.
"Well this will make communications easier."
"Yeah. Now I won't have to leave Rudy alone again. I wonder how he's-"
The was a sudden flash of purple from one of the windows. I'm the direction of Buena village the sky had turned purple. A huge wave of mana shoved past Pin and I.
"That's him. That's Thorn's mana. This is a distress call! Pin hop on! Eris go tell Paul that something bad is happening in Buena and that Rudeus is in trouble!"
I got down on a knee and Pin hopped on my back. Eris looked at me stunned since I had never raised my voice before, but she quickly took off running calling Paul's name.
Willing my Kumu ahead of me it grew in size and smashed through the wall. Using my magic eyes I used blood to form out a dragon, and had Kumu mix with it. I landed on the dragon's head and Pin and I soured to Buena village.
*-Phoebe-*
"She's so cute!"
A child's voice rang out as my 2 year old big sister doted on me. I was currently being held by my nanny, Flora. She was a commoner. When I asked Mars why a commoner was given the job of taking care of a blessed and royal child. He told me it was because if they messed up no one would notice if they went missing. Dark, but I can see the logic.
We were all sitting in a gazebo. Surrounding us was a sea of white flowers. Thorn would like this place. Ariel, my sister, was sipping tea across from me and my nanny. Behind her was her personal knight and mage. George and Onyx respectively. Behind me to my right was Mars. Thanks to the Minikyu he was wearing on his wrist I could feel Mars's anxiety any time George or Onyx looked at him.
"Yes. I've never seen a more perfect child, your highness. She only cries if something is the matter, and smiles anytime I hold her near the window. She seems to like the outside. Just look at her now."
"Kyaa! She's to cute!"
I then realized that I was smiling looking at all these flowers.
Onyx held out a hand.
"My lady. That noise was not very noble like. Please refrain from making it again."
Unfortunately for Ariel her mage was also her noble instructor.
'Being followed around everywhere by someone correcting every mistake you make. Ugh. I'm getting exhausted just thinking about it.'
"Yes. My apologies. It is just hard to resist when I have such an adorable baby sister. Couldn't you just... What is that?"
"What is it my- Oh my. Ms.Flora please get Princess Ariel and the blessed child inside!"
I couldn't see what they were looking at, but just as Flora stood up I felt a heavy wave of familiar mana wash over me. It was the same as the mana that let me get those Kumu over to Pin. This was the same mana that saved me from that cage. This was Thorn's mana, and a lot of it. It lasted only a single second. This was a distress signal.
'Mars! I'm going to the source of that mana wave!'
'Wait what?! My lady you can't! It's far dangerous!'
'No! I'm going!'
I formed my main Kumu, Akumu, around me. A pink orb appeared around me and as Akumu opened its mouth I could barely see as the sky went from purple to blue.
"If you're going then take me with you! It's my job to keep you safe!"
Another Kumu ate Mars and I started flying towards Buena village. Behind me was the blue Kumu that ate Mars, and slowly catching up behind us was a green Kumu. My only other Kumus.
*-Zenith-*
"What? Rudy? Rudy!"
I stared down at the baby in my arms. His hair had gone stark white and black tears flowed down his face.
"That expansion of magic is nothing more than confirmation. He no doubt overestimated his bodies limits. That child is Laplace. Now hand him over. We must eliminate him before he can grow stronger."
I looked up and saw the man claiming to be Perugius and his 12 servants rise back up.
"N-no! You aren't lord Perugius! He would never falsely accuse my baby like this!"
"Again. I am Perugius Dola, Armored Dragon King. I'm going to lay this out for you since I'd rather not pull innocents into Laplace's game. That child fits every box to be Laplace reincarnate. He has green hair, he was born with demon eyes, his mana pool is ginormous, and he is male. He has also shown that despite the fact he is a baby, he is able to use magic to a precise degree. Now that you know all of this. Give me Laplace."
He reached his hand forward, but suddenly stopped. It wasn't for a second, but he stopped. He backed up and twisted his head. I looked towards where he was looking and saw a giant blood red dragon flying straight towards us. On that dragon's head I could barely see Raion and Pin. Pin's hand was held out and as she waved it nails flew towards Perugius and his servants.
"Oi! You get away from Thorn!"
And that brings chapter 2 to an end. Early introduction to Perugius and a battle is about to break forth. Who will win? Who will lose? Guess we'll have to wait to find out. See you next week! Also most OC's in this chapter are just me putting characters in places where they will be replaced later. Like George and Onyx will be replaced by Luke and Derric.
Almost forgot to upload this today. Barely remembered, and still got that Friday release.