CANON SIDESTORY COMP 1
(Formerly Exclusive from Spacebattles)
#1
Nobody has ever done that!
It was late at night; Jason had been forced awake from another drunken stupor as he stood up and walked to the sink where he could wash his face. Finishing up, he began walking back to the kitchen proper to get some paper towels to wipe himself off. While doing so, he noticed the smaller Medea soundly sleeping in her own arms on the table where he woke up. It was there where he noticed that the girl had draped a blanket around him when he dozed off and it was now spread on the seat, he occupied prior.
With a great big sigh, Jason started questioning himself as to why he decided to do this but took action regardless as he walked quietly towards the blanket…
"…mmm, you're right Lord Jason, a-absolutely right…" Medea whispered through her sleep while Jason froze for a moment but steadily draped that blanket around her. Instinctively, she cuddled herself into it as a smile appeared on her face.
Leaning back, Jason found that he felt satisfied in some manner, even if he couldn't call it direct happiness, but it was enough that he found some level of acceptance with what he had just done, despite the very long and complicated nature of his and Medea's relationship. Especially with this version of her, at her youngest when they first met.
Gently, he walked away from the kitchen and began exploring the building by his lonesome.
Most were out doing their own jobs, Caenis specifically was very busy nowadays with some of his fellow Argonauts sharing the load. Asclepius had not had any sort of rest since his summoning, but Jason knew that the man was far too engrossed in his work with their master to even suggest or attempt rest in any way, shape, or form. The twins were… well, they were off guarding someone important, the two agreed in tandem to the job despite Jason expecting them not to, but they both assured that regardless of what happened, they were loyal to their current master.
Jason was not worried of course; their master had a ton of contingencies propped up that any issue regarding mutiny or disobedience was practically non-existent (at least to a point). Their master was one that clicked quite well with all of them and despite Jason's own disagreements with the man, he respected him enough that Jason followed his orders, at least enough to not disappoint him.
Atalanta was doing her own thing, with Peleus' son being strapped to her like a sibling even if the green-haired quack was also following some jobs outside of it. Theseus strangely enough had taken command of the expedition in the Mediterranean along occasionally with a fellow Greek Sailor in the name of Odysseus. Their job was pretty delicate and despite the difficulty, it was a tantamount objective that the two had poured all of their mind and soul into it intuitively.
Jason had no grounds to properly question the danger of the entire expedition but given the stakes should they not attempt it, he understood why their master was so concerned about it.
Last but certainly not the least in Jason's eyes was his good friend Heracles.
Heracles had not been very present much outside of very specific occurrences where his strength and power were needed to solve a particular problem (kind of like how Jason himself trusted the man back then) but their master had a good relationship with Heracles, so much so that the hero had volunteered the most whenever their master requested any sort of thing of him. He was also quite satisfied and happy with his current summoning, given how much freedom he had in essentially taking stride with what he wanted to do outside of being Heracles the hero.
Jason was happy for him actually, knowing that their master understood what the man was deep inside. The others, of course, those that were by no means Greek were good company too. Jason may not have taken the time to actively engage with them, but he still trusted them that whenever he was partnered with someone like Drake or even Sanson they would work well together.
Except for the King of Knights. That woman scared her to the high heavens.
If the woman's kid was a good drinking partner in all earnestness. Or perhaps she was basically Caenis but from the British Isles.
Jason continued walking down the hallway as the quiet kitchen grounds where he once was were now steadily increasing in activity as he heard the Goddess Artemis once again torturing the Teddy Bear that was Orion in one of the closed rooms. The other Orion was also close by unless the Goddess tied him down as well. He once found that big behemoth forcing himself into one of the storage rooms to hide from the Goddess only to fail knowing that the woman had a sixth sense detecting and knowing where exactly the man was, always.
Jason barely made any sound as he continued forward.
Only to stop when he heard a bit of commotion in the common room.
"Heracles-sama… truly you are an exceptional warrior even in something as simple as this game." A voice said, the ninja of their group, the snake-tied woman Chiyome. Jason even heard clapping as he peered into the room and saw Heracles sitting there with the two assassins, Corday and Chiyome as they were all staring at the large television with what looked like two fighters beating each other to death.
He looked very confused as to what was happening.
"Quelle chance! The poor game cannot even hope to fight back." Corday said as she clapped in full support as Jason watched the clearly dominant fighter on the television beating the other senseless with almost no injury.
"Even with the limits of the game's programming, I cannot believe that Heracles-sama is making the hardest difficulty as if it were child's play. W-Will you teach this kunoichi such skill, my Lord?" Chiyome praised as the clearly recognizable Heracles turned to her while still pressing buttons on the 'controller'.
"I would be honored to teach another warrior such skill." He pleasantly said as the ninja smiled.
"The children in my magic shows would surely be thrilled by this, Heracles-sama. Perhaps you can stop by in one of Lady Atalanta's facilities to show them your prowess?" Corday suggested.
"I promise that I will find time. That seems wonderful actually." Heracles said as the woman similarly smiled. Jason then walked close to them as he looked at the television and back to his friend.
"Captain… good to see you up." The great hero of Greece said with a small smile gracing his lips as Jason nodded while the two women greeted him.
"So… this is a game?" he asked as the other two individuals within the room kept watching the screen. Chiyome scooted a bit to let him sit as Heracles continued to focus on the game.
"Yes, they call it a fighting game, it's a simulated reality where two fighters can enact violence against each other without harming one's own body in reality. It is… quite enjoyable, even if fake. The adrenaline within you still pumps but more so through a mental means than a physical one."
"And you… control it through that?" Jason said as he pointed to the device on Heracles' hand.
The two fighters on the screen then proceeded to end their bout, with the one Heracles was controlling winning the match as both Chiyome and Corday cheered. Jason found himself smiling as he found it very predictable once more that Heracles would be good, even through this.
"It looks fun." He admitted.
Heracles hummed in response as the game ended. Jason then watched as a small smile appeared on his dear friend's face as he offered him another controller.
"You're not serious, right?" Jason said, confused.
"I absolutely am."
"I have dueled with Heracles-sama Jason. I always lose but he always guides me on being better." Chiyome proudly said even with the hint of defeat in her voice.
"I only tried once due to my inadequacy, but Lord Heracles has been very kind," Corday said.
"You shouldn't belittle yourself, Corday. Your expertise in your field is something I can never replicate." Heracles said as the woman nodded happily at the kind words.
"Uh-huh… I'm still not convinced and why the hell would you try this in the first place anyway? I don't see you as the type to like something as fake as this." Jason asked.
The man then looked at him for a few seconds in thought before once again brandishing a small but depth-filled smile of many emotions. The kind that Jason always saw when the man was happy about something. Jason actually felt nostalgic from a time long gone when they were all together in the Argo and many of the stories that he would tell were always about his very first wife.
He had that same look before he once again spoke in the present.
"True, but I took a secondary look at this whole sport, and I understood its appeal the more I learned and fine-tuned my own skills in it."
Jason definitely felt he was holding some truths back.
"So, care to test your mettle, Captain?" Heracles dared playfully as Jason felt peer pressure soaring up within his heart, and probably some degree of happiness. Maybe.
"Give me that thing, at least I'll have something to do to recover from my headache."
They played together until the sun came up hours later.
Their audience grew in number with Drake and Chiron being one of the most interested as eventually the entire common room along with Caenis and the rest became a gambling arena as multiple players tried to beat Heracles off of his winning streak.
Jason kept his bet which was the lowest out of the entire group solely on Heracles.
And despite Achilles eventually joining in with support from Atalanta (who was also cheering for Heracles with some of her children), nobody came absolutely close to beating the man by even an inch.
This meant that he was now thrice as rich compared to his compatriots who were still happy and amazed at the wholesome sport due to the great hero's prowess and skill.
Jason smiled as it all ended as instead of his usual fanfare when in regards to money and riches…
He instead used said money to buy them all a party together which even their master supported in full stride. Raikou and her new adopted family even came along as steadily Jason's earnings ran out the very moment Mordred's father came to join the party a bit later.
Their master of course happily took up the other expenses…
But Jason himself was happy at the end of it all.
Though he was still confused as to why Heracles of all people wished to learn such a strange sport.
He shrugged it all off as he watched his friend who was supposed to be the star of the show continue to stay in the common room playing with the other variations of fighting games in full focus and sincerity.
Wodime watched as just in the span of a week, Heracles had literally broken all records when it came to fighting games for both the informal leagues and professional leagues of the entire sport. He had risen up across the ranks with such speed and power that many had started to complain about trying to ban him from the tournaments altogether.
Still, he orchestrated various handicaps for himself to legitimately earn his wins through these tournaments, and as he won trophy by trophy and many such awards through his support he was starting to question why the man was pushing himself.
It got so far to the point where Vought had pitched in noticing the waves of popularity coming from their unknown strong hero who was making quite the name for himself in that part of the industry. Olympia primarily backed Heracles in his endeavors for this particular sport, so much so that even with the complaints the official backers of these professional tournaments were having immense success in making their shows mainstream. It helped that the money he shared to fund these games had turned the rather lesser-watched Fighting Game tournaments more popular compared to its contemporaries.
Vought tried their hand at making a SupeBowl for games in order to combat this but they always came flat knowing that they could never replicate the surge of popularity that the great hero had achieved in record time. Eventually, this pushed Vought to create a grand tournament just for Supes alone against Heracles as they pit all their V-sponsored heroes who were good at these games against him in a gauntlet. This inevitably always turned to the outcome that he and the rest of his comrades always expected as Heracles beat them all without much of a fuss.
Chiron was most proud of his student as he went up the stage and presented the trophy as the cheers of a lot of people rang in the background.
Wodime smiled as he watched the Greatest Hero of Greece handle the trophy in his arms.
That is until he specifically noticed that he didn't seem too happy…
Or at least he didn't feel like the award was for him.
A bit later, he asked the Great Hero what exactly this little stunt meant for him at the end other than a gleeful expansion of recreational activities that he enjoyed.
The Great Hero actually answered in his straight, simple way.
He almost looked shy about it at first as Wodime listened.
The moment he finished, Wodime's eyes widened in surprise…
And then into a genuine, heartfelt smile as he nodded in full support.
"Will you aid me for a bit on this master?" he asked.
"Always." He quickly said as the two finally shared a great understanding with each other.
One that Heracles felt very happy about.
Aditya helped his father pull the net of the assortment of fish that they carried from the sea.
His family was of a simple kind, their home in one of the islands that made up Indonesia. Ambelau was not that remote compared to other parts of the country, but due to the generally poverty-stricken nature of Aditya's home and family, their lives were less privileged compared to the others on the mainland.
His father was always busy, fish was a good market in this place, but due to the low expectations and income provided by said job they only had enough to feed their bellies with some of the fish his father caught and some rice that they simply bought in small quantities.
It was still a life that Aditya was used to.
A life that had him go to school despite his duties to provide for his family as well as side jobs.
Sometimes he would even go absent just to fulfill some duties that his mother could not handle at home due to being someone who was paid to wash the clothes of other people in their community. This left him to tend to his brother while they would watch through their local TV even if the channels were limited.
Aditya was the first child of their family. His age was now closer to seventeen as he was now steadily growing into a man. Happiness while large in quantity with how he cherished and loved his family despite their monetary status, was still largely inhibited by the limitations of their lives.
Aditya dreamed big of course.
Wanting to learn through his studies to have a good decent paying job once he graduated but he knew that was a far-fetched dream. Which is why he was generally content with what he had.
However, he recalled the day when Olympia, apparently a group that had heroes like that of Homelander had come to their community and started giving out relief goods and assistance. It was a wondrous day that he would always remember as the kind people gave them enough to stave them from hunger for at least a few more months.
They promised to come back one day and Aditya once dreamed that maybe…
Maybe if he could graduate, he could be like those people, helping as much they can to make sure families like him would always see the next day with smiles.
If only.
Those people were kind of course and even if they did not come back they were still a good memory that each and every child in their community would value given what they left for them.
Aditya of course was thrilled to meet some of the heroes that Olympia had.
They may not have been as popular as the ones he heard through the TV…
But he was glad that one of them humored him by talking with them personally.
Back then, before one of the arcades had shut down, Aditya was the master of the local fighting game scene when compared to any kid on the block. He was so good at it that his friends hated him at the end much to his amusement. Eventually, that arcade closed down but back then as a child Aditya always dreamed of being the best in the world.
Of being someone that everybody looked up to when it came to those games.
Simply put it was a stupid dream.
An impossible dream for a child who did not know any better.
He was still fond of it of course and he was quite proud telling the stories of it to one specific hero that was amused all the way. This specific hero promised him to come back bearing gifts in his honor and Aditya felt embarrassed.
Knowing that they had other priorities than making sure a nobody like them was given a chance.
They were heroes after all, and Aditya and his family were not in danger.
They were just living their lives.
Simple and as removed from most of the world as it would seem.
He had to be realistic this time. Hoping for what was best for his mother and father…
And his brother.
Games were simply games after all… and dreams were merely dreams.
He had to wake up from the foolishness when what life required of him was responsibility.
Hauling his father's catch back into their house…
He started noticing that there was a bit of commotion around his community.
He didn't put much thought into it, only to arrive at their poor excuse of a living room…
And seeing the dear hero again, in the flesh.
Aditya froze as he saw the large man smile.
A trophy was carried in his arms with Aditya's name on it.
The large man then walked over to him and handed it to him slowly.
Aditya was shocked looking at the prize, seeing that it was a world tournament one, with the plaque directly stating that it was a full-on perfect victory without so much as a loss to Aditya's name, similar to how the happy memories of his friends resurfaced when he actually proved his skill to them.
Aditya laughed as tears started to pool in his eyes.
Laughing as he recalled the many memories of his youth coming back.
Simple times.
Times when the world still made sense and he still had that innocence that was lost as the world grew much more exhausting.
But he was not tearing up because of the prize or because of the Trophy.
He placed it down and ran to the man himself and embraced him.
Thankful that he came back.
Thankful that a true hero… still carried the dreams of a nobody like him in full sincerity.
"But I think… this impossible." He said in a gutted form of English.
Aditya felt the hero stroke his hair.
"Nothing's truly impossible." He simply stated as they both laughed while Aditya smiled in tears.
Olympia would stay a bit more in the following weeks.
They helped the entire community to be uplifted in their standings in life.
Creating a community that was much more sufficient, much more stable, and progressive than ever before. Aditya would remember the man who had saved his community.
Aditya would always remember the man who believed in the impossible.
That believed that dreams as far-fetched as they are, were still possible.
#2
Warmth...
Caenis opened the door, it was late at night, the establishment was far from the nearest city, and it was quiet enough that the roads were already sparsely populated by traffic, and next to no customers were present at that time. The simple establishment's owner had previously been cleaning up the tables and sweeping the floor until he was surprised to see a customer that time of the day.
Not just a normal customer that is, as the famous heroine strode in with her companion as the owner began calling forth for his single employee. The petite woman and owner welcomed the two respectfully but excitedly as Caenis nodded at them for their enthusiasm. The man beside her greeted the two in good faith as they were both led to a table just by the biggest window of the building. The view was quite stellar outside, from the calm picture of the desert in the cooling dark colors of the night touching its surfaces. The peaks of rock formations were painted by the night sky as the moonlight bounced off of it. The sheer color of the clouds glistened up above as stars continued to twinkle against the backdrop.
It was like a Van Gogh painting, though much less populated by a city, and more densely articulated by nature in its purest form.
Caenis and her companion, her master, Kirschtaria Wodime ordered their food as they stared wordlessly at the world outside of the window. No words were exchanged between them as Caenis relaxed into the chair's backrest behind her. Wodime sipped some of the traditional tea quietly as the wisps of steam danced across his face as the peaceful night allowed him to relax after the troubles of the modern world no longer mattered to him in this slight reprieve.
Sighing, he allowed himself a moment of nostalgia to clip his head as he looked at Caenis and raised his teacup. "To Chaldea..." he whispered with a low tone as a smile appeared on his face. A genuine smile of hope and optimism as Caenis found herself slightly smiling back.
She raised her empty glass of water in response as a much more troubled expression appeared on her face. "...To a comrade..."
Wodime did not reply to those words as the petite woman came back with their order. Two bowls were placed in front of them as the woman bid them to enjoy. Wodime carefully opened the bowl slowly and respectfully as he allowed the steam of the dish to grace his face. The smell was immaculate. The sight was delicious, as he broke apart the chopsticks that were given to them.
Caenis carefully did the same, though much more clumsy and brutish, but she placed great effort to make sure she came off as respectful...
It was, after all, an important day. One that the two would always remember and think about even as they were sent to this world. Caenis did not want to fumble or appear short-sighted with the emotions simmering in her head as she looked at the warm and moist mixture of the noodles floating within a very tasteful soup.
They ate their meal in silence...
But halfway, Caenis pulled out a candle and placed it between them. Wodime manifested a small flame atop his finger as he lit the candle.
They stared at it for a few moments as the warmth of their meals began settling in their stomachs.
Wodime further remembered Team A and all the memories he had of it... as well as a certain Ritsuka Fujimaru still out there... amongst the stars, fighting for the good of humanity.
Caenis on the other hand, found herself frowning as she pulled out an old-fashioned Japanese Shikomizue that she bought from abroad. This one in particular apparently belonged to a certain legendary warrior...
She had nothing left that closely belonged to that specific, brave, and wondrous wandering Samurai.
Inwardly, she hoped that this little gesture of good faith and respect was enough as he sighed and looked at the candle.
She did not wish to mourn her, she wished to celebrate the anniversary of the very day she was lost forever. Caenis found herself smiling as she traced the weapon within her grasp before eventually returning back to eating her fill of the meal.
"This ain't bad at all..." she mused.
"I agree, the owner makes wonderful udon."
It was 11:36pm in the outskirts of Las Vegas, Nevada, and two souls were enjoying the warmth of their meals. It reminded them of comrades long gone, comrades long past... that they both would cherish, deep in their hearts with respect and dignity, forever.
AN: Formerly found only in SB, but since this are canon.
Warmth takes place after Starlight's Lament, and the Herc Sidestory takes place roughly during Kimiko's adjustment period in her POV Chaps.