Disclaimer: English is not my first language. I'm using Grammarly to check the Grammar and using Word to write it.
There is going to be a few reference throught the story, you don't need to know them as this will focus more on the Worm universe.
I play FGO EN by the way.
/
September 17,2010
Brockton General Hospital.
I was looking at my hands in a daze, still trying to understand the situation. Desperately hoping that this is just a dream.
"Henry. Henry. Can you hear me?" The doctor asked.
I looked at the doctor standing next to my bed, "I...," Henry took a big breath. "Yes, I can hear you. Just...need a moment to gather my thoughts."
"Take all the time you need," The doctor said with a kind smile.
Henry tries to organize his thoughts but there is one question burning in his mind.
"How long was I in a coma?" Henry asks the doctor, afraid of the answer.
The doctor looks at his files, "Two months."
Henry swallows heavily, the answer echoes in his mind.
"I know it can be a scary moment but your parents will arrive soon. Everything will be alright," The doctor said trying to reassure me. "We might even get Panacea to check on you."
"Panacea?" Henry said confused.
"Yes, she makes rounds here daily. Honestly, I worry about that girl, she spends too much time here," The doctor said.
"How is she going to help me?" Henry asks.
The doctor looks at me in confusion for a moment then gains a worried look.
"Do you know what city we are in right now?"
The question made my head throb in pain, memories started to rush back all at once. I put my hands on my head In an attempt to soothe the pain, but it made no difference. In a few seconds, I remembered everything.
Brockton Bay. Protectorate. PRT. New Wave. Earth Bet. Parahumans. Endbringers.
"Brockton Bay," Henry said as the pain started to go away.
The doctor checked me again after my headache went away, "Nothing seems wrong and your memories have returned. I'm going to give you some medicine for the headaches and let me know if you have any more of them. I'm going to check if your parents have arrived."
"Thank you...," Henry realizes he didn't know the doctor's name.
"Oliver," Doctor Oliver said with a smile.
Henry smiles in return," Thank you doctor Oliver." He gave me a nod and left the room.
Alone in the room Henry tries to analyze the situation but finds himself unable to as his mind is in too much turmoil. As much as he would like to say this is just another singularity, lostbelt, or even an enemy attack. Every fiber in his body says that this is real.
And that scares him.
Could all his time in Chaldea just be an elaborate dream? Mash, Da Vinci, Goredolf, Holmes, and everyone else just figments of his imagination?
Henry shakes his head furiously to stop that line of thought. There is one simple way to confirm the veracity of his memories. Hesitantly he looks at his arms and focuses on activating his Magic circuits, he almost cries in relief as familiar blue lines start to appear.
Pleased with the results Henry is left confused at what is happening. Before he could think further the door to his room opens.
"Henry!" A woman with shoulder-length chestnut hair and blue eyes grabs me in a tight hug. Another pair of arms quickly follow surrounding us both in an equally tight hug, they belong to a man with short black hair, brown eyes, and a stubble médium beard.
These are my parents, Nora and Isaac Karn.
Henry closes his eyes and leans into the hug. The only sound in the room for a few minutes was the crying of happy parents. Henry opens his eyes as there is one member of the family missing and turns to his parents.
"Where's Daisy?" Henry ask.
"She is with your aunt," Isaac said after calming down.
"I was so worried, the doctors didn't know what was wrong or if you were ever going to wake up," Nora said finally letting go of Henry.
Henry looks at his mother in confusion, "What do you mean they didn't know what was wrong?"
"Well, all the tests they made said that you were healthy and that nothing was wrong," Isaac said.
"How exactly did I end in a coma?" Henry finds that suspicious.
"You fell down the stairs, sweetie," Nora said, not liking to remember it. "After it you just...wouldn't wake up."
Something happened but there's too little information. Henry wishes that Holmes was here, he would have been able to give a hypothesis on what is going on. Well, it's not the first time I'm separated from everyone, and while this is certainly...unique I already know what to do.
A summoning ritual.
"When can I leave?" Henry ask.
"We don't know yet," Isaac shrugs his shoulders. "I'm going to look for the doctor." Henry says the name of the doctor who was in his room earlier as Isaac leaves the room.
While waiting for my father to return, I asked if anything important had happened in the last two months. My mom said that last week there was a clash between Empire 88 and the ABB, and now everyone is afraid of a gang war. Besides that, it has been pretty much the same.
Henry tilts his head as he is thinking of the heroes and villains of modern times, almost chuckling as he remembers their costumes and gimmicks. Times have certainly changed. But to be fair his servants also had some very eccentric clothes.
We kept chatting until my father returned with Doctor Oliver. He checked me again and said since I was in, surprisingly, good shape I could return home.
My parents were delighted by the news, doctor Oliver went to get my release papers and my mother went to the car to grab the clothes they brought to me.
I walked slowly to the bathroom in the room, my legs were still a little weak, after taking off the hospital gowns Henry took a look in the mirror.
Short chestnut hair, brown eyes, and an unblemished body. None of the scars I got in my adventures were there, it was a strange sight. After putting on the clothes Henry leaves the hospital with his parents.
/
As we were driving back home I took a look outside to the same gloomy atmosphere that seemed to refuse to leave Brockton Bay. This city is not a safe place to live, to put it simply, with so many villains in one place that likes to Clash frequently, you end up with many innocents injured or dead.
The heroes try to bring order to Brockton Bay but they are outnumbered three to one, and no matter how much effort is made they accomplish so little. The worst part is that it's not just Brockton that is in bad shape, but so is the rest of the world.
Earth Bet is falling apart.
Henry smiles tiredly as it seems he still has much work ahead, but that is the purpose of Chaldea. They are humanity's shield and sword.
Before I realized we had arrived home, It was an apartment building on the border between the docks and downtown, we lived on the first floor. After getting inside Henry looked around at the familiar yet alien apartment.
"Henry, why don't you go to your room to rest a bit while I make some food? You must be famished," Nora said as she went to the kitchen.
Henry nods absentmindedly and starts to head towards it. After entering I looked around to see a bed, a closet, a desk with a computer, and some posters from the Protectorate heroes.
Henry sits on the bed and sighs once more, wishing he could spend a few days just to take it easy and organize his thoughts. But there's simply too much to do.
'Even after defeating the alien god and restoring the world, I can't catch a break,' Henry thought cynically.
Henry hears his mother calling and heads toward the kitchen, there's a single plate of chicken casserole on the table.
"It's leftover from yesterday, I forgot to buy more groceries," Nora said sheepishly.
"Mom, it's fine," Henry said with a small smile. "Where's dad?"
"He went to get Daisy," Nora said.
Henry sits on the table and takes a bit of the casserole. He freezes at the taste, not for tasting bad but for bringing a familiar feeling of warmth and love that waters his eyes a little.
"Is...something wrong?" Nora asked hesitantly.
Henry softly shakes his head and clears his eyes, "I'm just happy to be back home."
My mom smiles softly as I continue to eat. After finishing I went to the living room to watch some TV. Henry was changing channels until stopping in a report of the latest cape fight.
"-other clash between the ABB and Empire has just ended. As you can see behind me the Miss Militia, Velocity, and Dauntless managed to make both gang's capes retreat," said a middle-aged woman into a microphone.
In the background I could see the paramedics desperately working to help as many people as possible, police officers arresting gang members, firefighters trying to put out a fire in some building, cars flipped, body bags and children crying.
I focused on what the heroes were doing and was pleased by it. Velocity was taking the injured somewhere, most likely to the hospital, Miss Militia was helping the police officers with the gang members and Dauntless was rescuing the civilians that were trapped by rubble.
"Do we know who started this conflict?" Asked a man, the anchor if I were to take a guess.
"Hookwolf seems to have aggressively attacked members of the ABB until Oni Lee appeared to drive him off," said the woman.
"Do you have an Idea of how many injured?" Asked the man.
"I don't have the exact number but there are already five confirmed deaths and many more injured," Said the woman.
The man puts his finger in the ear, "I'm being informed that the PRT is calling for a press release on the growing tension. We will tu-"
Henry turns off the TV feeling more tired, such scenes are sadly very common in Brockton Bay. I notice my mother looking at me worriedly, and put on a forced smile.
"I'm fine Mom," Henry said.
She didn't seem convinced by it but before she could speak the front door opened. A child went straight towards Henry. She had back-length Black hair and blue eyes. This is my little sister Daisy.
"Henry!" My little sister screamed as she collided with me.
Henry grunts at the impact but hugs Daisy tightly, happy to see her again.
"Daisy you have to be careful, Henry is still recuperating," Nora lightly chastises her daughter.
Daisy pouts as I laugh and reassure my mother that there isn't any problem.
"It's fine honey, Daisy just missed him," Isaac said with a chuckle after closing the front door.
We spent the rest of the day talking about any nonsense that came to mind, like for example Daisy has to make a presentation and her partner is kinda of a grump.
Her name is Missy or something.
/
It was around midnight when I left the apartment to find an isolated place for the summoning ritual. It wouldn't be hard as Brockton Bay has plenty of abandoned buildings. I was wearing a hoodie to hide my face.
I was a few blocks away from my house when a trio of idiots decided to bother me. I pulled the hoodie lower and looked at them. Shaved head, an armband with 88, and a cocky attitude. Your typical empire grunt.
One of them opened their mouth but before even a Word got out Henry lashed with a quick jab to his mouth, and the first one fell hard on the floor. The other tôo were startled by the sudden attack and Henry capitalized on it. A chop to the neck and an elbow to the face and just like that it was done.
Henry looks boredly at his attackers for a moment and simply resumes the search. Henry wasn't particularly physically strong, his magecraft was average across the board but he would never lose against idiots like that.
If he ever did and Scáthach found out, she would put him through even more intense training. Henry shives at the thought, while she is a good teacher the woman is demanding.
Stopping in front of an abandoned building, Henry looks around to see if there would be other idiots to bother him. Not seeing anyone he goes inside, entering the first empty room Henrt grabs a piece of metal that was on the floor and starts to draw the summoning circle on the floor.
For the ritual to work you would need a holy grail, something he doesn't possess at the moment but he does have something else. Looking at the back of his right hand Henry sees the command spells, they start to appear a few hours after leaving the hospital.
Henry takes a deep breath to calm his nerves and starts the chant.
Let silver and stone be the essence.
Let Stone and the archduke of the contracts be the foundation.
Let red be the color I pay tribute to.
Let rise a wall against the Wind that shall fall.
Let the four cardinal Gates close.
Let the three-forked Road from the crown reaching the Kingdom rotate.
I hereby swear.
I shall be all that is good in the world.
I shall ward off all that is evil in the world.
From the seventh heaven, wielding three words of Power, come forth from the ring of control, guardian of the heavenly scales!
The summoning circle exploded in bright lights at the end of the incantation, forcing Henry to cover his eyes. When the light diminished a person was standing in the middle of the circle.
It was a woman with White hair and cold blue eyes that softened a little when she saw Henry. She was wearing a Black and blue outfit.
"Husband," The woman said.
"Morgan," Henry said with a soft smile.