Chapter 2
A former god's first day
"I am Wothnaz Borrson, I… hope we can all get along nicely."
Despite the clear and obvious twitch in Othinus's cheek, Touma remained to laugh at the war god turned awkward highschool student. Instead he had broken out into a cold sweat, his own eye twitching as he found himself glancing back to the smirking Tsuchimikado. Had he known? That was a stupid question, of course he knew, thats why he was holding back laughter right now. But why? Why was Othinus here? What about her sentence, wasn't she violating EVERY SINGLE rule of the magic and science treaty!?
While he was lost in thought however, the other students had already begun trying to talk to their new classmate. With Fukiyosie making her way over to Othinus and holding out her hand in a gesture of kindness as she welcomed the girl.
"I'm Fukiyousie Serie, It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Wothnaz, if you need anything don't be afraid to ask. Just watch out for the idiots back there, we call them the delta force for a good reason, so you need to be careful. Aogami is a hopeless pervert who lacks standards, Tsuchimikado is a disgusting sis-con, and Kamijou-san is a lazy moron who blames his misfortune on everything."
"I'm familiar," Othinus casually responded, ignoring Fukiyosie's handshake, "however I'll correct you on one thing. My Understander is hardly lazy, you just don't see him outside of class, so don't presume to know him better than me." She flashed a cold glare the stunned girl's way before turning and making her way through the classroom. "The same goes with the blond and the blue haired one, theres much more to them than you've seen here."
During her and Touma's time together in the black labyrinth, she had seen countless iterations of his friends and loved ones. It was an inevitable consequence of torturing him specifically by reshaping the world around him to her whim and need. As a result, it meant that she had gotten to know his inner circle well enough to figure out their basic tendencies. Such as how Fukiyousie seemed to hold little to no faith in her understander despite never getting to know him.
Othinus held no small amount of pride in her knowledge as a former god, so while she did not know each of her classmates as well as Touma. She believed she knew them well enough to easily navigate any situation she would be required to deal with involving them. However, as a result, her perception may have been distorted, preventing her from seeing past the shallow surface.
"Damn it! Of course she's into Kamijou!" one of the other boys in the class snapped and Touma felt multiple glares being directed his way.
"Understander!? Who does she even think she is!? What does that word even mean?" a girl murmured a look of envy being sent at Othinus.
However Touma was a bit preoccupied as Aogami had begun shaking him violently, "DAMN YOU KAMI-YAAAAAAN! I knew it was too good to be true! A gorgeous dominatrix beauty with the body of a goddess ends up in our class. And of course she ends up having a thing for you, you bastard! When are you going to leave some of the ladies for the rest of us!?"
A low growl came from Othinus before Touma could respond as the former god stood just behind the blue haired pervert. "Unhand my understander you perverted mortal scum, I will not stand by as a pathetic foolish mortal touches my things. So you best be very careful how you behave around me, otherwise I might just break your puny spine." If looks could kill, the cold glare she had sent Aogami's way would have instantly erased all the energy from his body. But instead all it ended up accomplishing was making Aogami even more excited as he began frothing at the mouth.
"AAaaaahhhnn~ she called me mortal and is glaring at me with a look of extreme disgust like im some kind of insect! Damn you Kami-yan! How dare you nab this goddess of a beauty that can kill you with nothing but a glare! DEATH TO THE KAMIJOU BLOODLINE!" he roared as rest of the class turned his way while Touma tried to push his face away from him.
"Damn it Oth- I mean, Wothnaz-san! You just made him worse! Now what is this Kamijou-san meant to do!" Touma gave Othinus an irritated glare, "he gets off to literally anything, why did you think threatening him would work! Honestly you're lucky he hasn't just did it in his pants right now because of your glare!" he snapped at her.
Othinus shrugged before suddenly grabbing Aogami by the back of the head and slamming him face first into the desk. Letting his unconscious body collapse to the floor bleeding from the nose as she crossed her arms and huffed. "There, he's unconscious now, happy human? Although if you don't stop the bleeding his condition may worsen."
Silence had fallen in the classroom as everyone gawked at Othinus before Touma stammered, "W-wothnaz-san! What the actual fuck!? You didn't need to do that, Aogami was just being his usual stupid self and acting like a pervert. Just relax already, he wasn't going to hurt anyone!" he cried out in shock at his understander's violent behavior.
"He just threatened to end your entire bloodline, which I intend to continue, thank you very much, so why should I hold back? He's lucky I didn't decide to rip out his spine for that offense, only I get to threaten you human, so if anything this is a mercy." Othinus gave a confused expression as she raised an eyebrow, "unless that was merely an empty threat. I must confess I am very unfamiliar with your relationship to this pervert," she admitted, causing Touma to just gape in shock.
"W-wothnaz-chan!" Komoe's horrified voice cried out, "what did you do!? K-Kamijou-chan! Tsuchimikado chan! Hurry Aogami-chan to the infirmary quick!" The small teacher rushed over and grabbed Othinus's wrist with an angry pout and tearful eyes. "And you Wothnaz-chan, you're coming with me to the teacher's lounge to discuss your misconduct young lady!"
The war god's eye twitched for a moment again, nearly getting a laugh out of Touma despite his prior shock. "Y-young… L-Lady! J-" she caught herself and took a breath managing to stop herself from correcting the small teacher. "He was just threatening my understander! Why should I show him anything less than a brutal beating for-. H-hey what are you doing!?" she cried out as the small teacher began dragging her towards the door.
Poking her head back in before the door shut, Komoe spoke back up, "before I get back you all better catch up on any last minute homework. You may be getting a fresh new start, but you'll still be graded on that so you want a nice clean record okay?" She smiled before the door was slid shut with a light slam, leaving the entire classroom entirely silent.
"I like her already, someone needs to put the deltaforce in their place from time to time," Fukiyosie nodded to herself. "And it seems she can handle Kamijou's Lazy behavior, so maybe he'll stop complaining for a change," she huffed proudly.
Himegami clicked her tongue as she muttered under her breath, "you do realize you're part of their group too right?"
—
"Woah! Careful Kami-nyah don't daze off on me like that," Tsuchimikado's voice cut through Touma's thoughts. "Pretty sure its not just Aogami's nose that's bleeding, so we don't need to smack him around anymore than necessary."
The two of them were carrying the unconscious boy through the hall after having dragged him out of the classroom. Touma was lifting his legs while Aogami held his shoulders with the two of them awkwardly making their way down the hall. Their friend's face was frozen in a stupid grin for whatever reason despite the blood dripping down his face. But Touma wasn't sure if that was because he knew it was Othinus who knocked him out, or because of the bloodloss.
Continuing, Tuschimikado met Touma's gaze as he spoke, "so, anyways… that went about as well as I expected Nyah. Personally im just glad she didn't snap at me, pretty sure she'd be way less tolerant towards your's truly. Considering I'm a spy responsible for 90% of the times you get dragged into a problem," he gave a nervous laugh as Touma deadpanned.
"Yeah, you've gone out of your way to even kidnap this Kamijou-san onto a fucking airliner, pretty sure's justified." Touma gave a sigh before glaring, "alright you nyah nyah bastard, you better start explaining things right now. What the hell is Othinus doing in Academy city!? Let alone as a actual student, isn't she violating every possible treaty just by being here? What about World War Three? Do you guys really want to have another one of those because the science side interfered too heavily with your affairs again?"
Tsuchimikado clicked his tongue and chuckled, "not so my foolish friend, you see, during her trial back at the UN. Thanks to a combination of Index's testimony, your touching story and her own emotional rant, we realized you were right. Considering how long she's already lived isolated from others, locking her up in a cell wouldn't do much. If anything it'd only make her worse, and thats even if we could keep her locked up, she's still a master of magic after all. And besides, she clearly wanted to make it up to you really badly, so they decided to give her the same treatment they did with me. By forcing her to take part in the power curriculum, they no longer need to fear her magic, also… Othi-chan, I'm gonna remember that."
Touma growled a little, "so, they made her another spy, and only I get to call her that, Tsuchimikado. Don't go getting any funny ideas just because you like the nick name," he gave a sigh, "still, guess thats the best I can hope for from the Anglicans."
"What? No, why would they make her into a spy? Thats what they have me for," Tuschimikado looked confused. "Besides, she'd never agree to that, no, they made her into a bodyguard for one one of their most valuable assets."
"You mean Index-san?" Touma asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"Nope~" Tsuchimikado teased, catching Touma off guard as he smiled.
"Then who else could they possible find that valuable!?" he asked in confusion.
Tsuchimikado looked Touma in the eyes, "who do you think Kamiyan?" he asked causing Touma to blink.
"You"
—
A few minute after Othinus had been chewed out by the small pink haired teacher, she had returned to the classroom. Almost immediately, she had been swarmed by the other students as they began asking her various questions at a rapid fire pace. There was no time for Othinus to relax as she found her eye twitching underneath her eyepatch from the irritation. Their constant nagging causing a bubble of annoyance to build in her chest as she felt her teeth grind in her jaws.
"How do you know Kamijou-san, and why do you call him your understander?" the black haired Himegami asked with a glare. Her walking church, swaying on her neck as she leaned in close to Othinus, "and for what reason does he have to look at you with fear?"
"How did you and the idiot meet? you come across him laying on the ground or something bemoaning his misfortune?" Fukiyosie crossed her arms in curiosity, "gotta say for someone with an interest in him, you certainly don't take shit from him either."
"How did you get a body like that!? what's your workout routine to keep it in such good shape!" a spikey haired girl with glasses stammered out. "Y-you wouldn't be out of place playing an actual goddess in a movie, like Ishtar, or Freyja! It must be really difficult to keep yourself fit! With a body that perfect" she said, stuttering in embarrassment.
"What about hair products! what do you wash with? cause your skin practically glitters and your hair looks like sheets of gold!" A girl with a headband mused, raising her hand from behind the other girls, "you gotta share your tips with us Wothnaz!"
But it wasn't just the girls bothering her, as the boy's too had their own questions as they pressed in from the other side. Clearly having difficulty keeping their eyes off of the more intimate parts of her body that were reserved for her human. She had half a mind to teach them all a lesson for ogling her like that when they were unworthy to so much as behold her form. Truly it was an insult to someone divine like her, especially without first paying a proper tribute to her like good mortals.
"What's your ability!? and what level is it? are you like a level 3 or something? why go here and not Tokiwadai?" One boy asked with his head poking over the crowd, "I hear they have a better curriculum than us, not to mention two level fives!" Their insulting words, causing a tic to form on Othinus's forehead as the pit of her gut burned with anger at how they intensively asked her to reveal her power.
"You do martial arts? I heard from some other students you kicked some dude's asses! think you could show off some of those moves!" Another boy from the other side of the crowd asked, waving his hand in the air above him, "I want to see some wester's cqc!" His words making Othinus's hand twitch as she found herself insulted by how he'd dare to demand something of her.
Othinus found herself having to hold back from insulting the crowd for how much they were annoying her with their questions. Wanting nothing more than to just snap at them and tell them that she was the One eyed Othinus, just to get them to leave her alone. Or to break each of their limbs for their transgressions against her as a god for daring to demand things of her. But doing so would just cause more problems and get the anglicans to come and drag her off, which she really didn't want. Especially now that she had been turned into a powerless level 0 thermal hand Esper who only had physical combat to her advantage.
However, being honest with herself, she thought this was a good chance to prove herself to her understander and show off that she could handle any situation. No matter what limitations or how stressful and annoying it got, and if anything, this would prove a suitable challenge for her. It had been quite some time since she had needed to exercise her deceptive abilities to work herself into a social group. So, it was high time she put those skills to work once again and shake off the rust she told herself.
Smiling for a moment, Othinus turned to the crowd and adopted a more girlish persona, a hand to her chin as she gave a fond expression. "Oh, so many questions, I'd prefer if you had asked them one at a time instead of demanding divine wisdom all at once. But, I'll play along for you all and answer as many as I can," she chuckled a little as she moved her hand to her cheek. "Me and Kamijou-san share a bond you could say goes beyond what any mortal could possible experience in their life times. It runs deeper than even the blackest depths of the ocean and stronger than the nuclear bonds holding atoms together. That dumb look you all saw on his face earlier was really his shock at seeing me soo soon, but if you paid attention. You'd notice how his cheeks got a little pink from how happy he was," she gave a teasing smile as the girls all swooned at her words.
"How we met was quite funny actually, I used to be quite the delinquent before he showed up in my homeland you know. Ran a small but dangerous gang back in Denmark, held so much anger at the world for abandoning me, and took my anger out on everyone around me. Yet he still reached his hand out even to this hopeless case," she chuckled a bit again, "he kept interfering with my plans. Refused to back down really, showing no fear whatsoever as he challenged me again and again despite constantly losing. He was so stubborn about not letting me have my selfish way that I couldn't help but be impressed, you know." She gave a soft, fond sigh, "had I not known him any better, I'd think he wanted to show off how determined he was to me specifically." Her sweet sounding words caused the students to glance over at Touma's desk with various mixed expressions of envy and awe. With Himegami becoming unsure whether she should be impressed by what she had heard, or ask more questions to resolve the envy she was feeling.
Continuing, Othinus straightened out as she held her chin, "as for my workout routine? Its nothing too special really. Everyone's bodies work differently, and I just happened to be given the right method to keep my body in shape. I always had a knack for picking up on new skills quickly, and my father caught on fairly early on in my life. Forcing me to take all sorts of lessons so that I'd never need to rely on anyone and would be able to support whoever I ended up with on my own. Martial arts, architecture, even smithing, swordsmanship, and ship building, he made sure I mastered almost every skill he could get me into. They may be out of date, but a skill is a skill and I was always eager to learn new things, which is why I think this will be a fantastic new experience for me." She looked to the side and gave a closed eye smile, "and thank you, I have been told before I could play the role of a goddess like Ishtar or Freyja a number of times," she said, continuing the facade she had put up.
"Now… my hair, to be honest I don't need to do much with it either, just a little bit of shampoo and conditioner. My hair just naturally maintains itself with minimum effort,"Othinus mused, holding her chin as she tilted her head in thought. "Apparently I got it from my late mother, she passed away during my birth, truly it was a real shame, maybe that's part of why I was so bitter. As for my level? I'm afraid you'll have to wait to see," she smirked slyly, "I could have gone to that preppy Tokiwadai school. But then I'd have been unable to spend time with my Understander, and besides, theres a few undesirables I'd rather not run into. Even if they go to the middle school," she explained, the image of that railgun girl flashing through her mind for a moment.
The claim itself was Bullshit of course, even had she wanted to, Othinus would be unable to go to Tokiwadai on account of being a level 0. They only allowed for levels 3 and up to attend that high class girl's school, and didn't care for your heritage or prior engagements. However, not only would her pride as a former god not allow her to admit to such a failing and depreciate her value as an individual. But the best lies often incorporated bits of the truth to make them harder to figure out as she had by bringing up Touma. In fact most of her answers were very much the same, combining single falsehoods with multiple truths in the form of half truths. Which as a result had the added bonus of warding off any foolish mortal who thought they had a chance with her from trying anything. That always ended in broken limbs and tears, which was something she didn't need considering how much trouble breaking the blue haired pervert's face had caused her and her understander.
And although it was a little awkward to be using his actual name rather than just calling him, 'Human' or 'understander'. Othinus really couldn't say she disliked it as it helped push the idea that her and Kamijou were actually a thing. Something which not doing would actually be a detriment to as it would imply she didn't see as a person. So, despite making her slightly uncomfortable, Othinus decided to bare with it, if just to keep those mortal girls from trying anything.
The glasses girl swore under her breath, "damn it! You're telling me you were just born this way!? Why must you be so perfect! I'll never have the body of my dreams!" she cried as her headband friend pat her back in sympathy.
"Only basic shampoo and conditioner… she's on another level from us simple highschool girls, is this good genetics? It's almost like she's truly an ancient goddess from denmark," she mumbled, sniffling under her breath. "Why must the world be so unfair to gift some people with better bodies than others!? I had to diet profusely when I ate too much!"
"Well, I for one am glad you decided to join our school Wothnaz," Fukiyousie smiled wrapping her arm around Othinus's shoulder, causing her to jerk. "Anyone who can keep the deltaforce in check single handedly is good in my books, maybe that idiot Kamijou will stop slacking off now that you're here. Actually get some homework done on time," she then scoffed and looked to the side with a sarcastic expression. "Or have a proper attendance for once, dude's never in class" she snarked, muttering under her breath.
Othinus raised an eyebrow there, "I do recall him complaining about that during my time as a delinquent actually. In our first meeting he kept going on about how he was going to fail the year if he kept being dragged into trouble. Apparently he can't avoid it, constantly finding himself in someone else's mess and missing out on school. Although…" she gave a soft smile again, more genuine this time, "I have to admit I think its quite fortuitous. Had it not been for that misfortune he constantly complains about, I'd never had met him you know?" she placed a hand over her chest. "He's the reason I'm here after all, so why should I look down on that misfortune of his? He may complain. But its never stopped him from saving those in need," she muttered, failing to notice the looks sent her way.
At some point, her words and expression had become genuine as she spoke about Touma in an honest fashion. She may have been hiding the full truth from them, but in that moment, everything she had said about Touma was true. Had it not been for that misfortune of his, the two of them would have never met at baggage city that fateful day. Touma likely would have died at Marian's hands, given the mercy of a swift end, and not suffered to see the former god. Had that happened, Othinus's heart would have remained cold, and she'd have continued to suffer in eternal loneliness.
For that, she was thankful to Touma's shitty luck.
"Its like some kind of fairy tale about an ice queen who's heart gets thawed by a boy who's determined to not let her suffer in solitude! That's just like Kamijou-san," one of the girls swooned, hands to her face as they blushed joyously.
Himegami pouted, shoulders sagging, "I was once the girl Kamijou-san did that for," she muttered, depressed. "Once again I have nothing to stand out with, why can't he give me that kind of attention," the girl jealously said.
Fukiyousie made a face and sighed, "true… guess some good came from his laziness then, doesn't mean I approve however. He still needs to stop making excuses for all of his failures, not everything is happenstance, some of it is just his own ignorance and clumsiness. So, you better set him straight Wothnaz, can't be having you get dragged down to the deltaforce's level!" She jabbed a finger at Othinus's chest smirking, "I'd hate for my new friend to fail her classes cause she let those idiots get to her head."
Taken aback, Othinus found herself stunned a moment before she cleared her throat, "r-right… well you don't have to worry about me. The Hu- I mean Kamijou Touma listens to me, I can speak in a way he understands so he might learn better with me by his side. Actually, I was thinking about the two of us having a study session after school later, this esper stuff really fascinates me. I'm new to it after all, so seeing his foolish take on it might give me some perspective, and who knows." She gave a smirk, "maybe I'll be able to understand the lessons better and get them through his thick skull," she teased, winking.
"Ueeegh!" one of the boys gave a sound of disgust, "this has gotten too sappy, now they're all gushing over Kamijou again like he's some kind of celebrity. Why can't they talk about someone like Hajime again? At least that dude was an actual celebrity before all the controversy. Then we wouldn't have to feel so pathetic," he hobbled away,holding his face. "You see the way the new girl looks when she talks about him? Damn you Kamijou! Stop stealing all the good ones!"
For once in a long time, Othinus almost felt like laughing as the irritation she had been feeling began melting away. The reactions from the other students and how they had welcomed her making her heart feel the slightest bit lighter. It had been long, long since she felt accepted, as this world she had been lost in never once let her speak her piece. And while the pain was not truly gone and would remain so long as she had to keep her secret, the impact it had on her was no less effective for it. For once in so very long, Othinus found a more genuine smile grace her face, as old muscles not used in millenia worked to bring joy to her expression.
Even back before she had become Odin, she had never once had anything like this, the simple joys of school and making friends. All her friends, Mimir, Loki, those spoken of in her myths, were all made as part of her quest to achieve godhood or as a means to an end. And while she had genuinely cared about some of them, never had she ever been allowed to spend time with them just as people. There was always a reason they stood side by side, and never did it occur simply for the fun or joy of the company itself.
When she was young, her father had indeed made her master almost every art there was back during the nordic bronze age. But he hadn't done it for her sake, rather merely to make her more desirable in the eyes of nobles and tradesmen. Wanting to strengthen relations with Greece at the time and further his own standing in the world as a powerful tradesman.
However… it had been Othinus who had chosen to learn magic after hearing about it from some of the women in her village. What would eventually be known as Seíther magic had been one of the first things she mastered under the monicker of Odin. It had been the first thing she as an individual had sought out for her own purposes, which had lead her down the path she ended up on. Maybe thats why she had clung to it so desperately until the very end, and fell victim to her own prophecy out of fear.
In a way, the same applied here in this classroom, she had chosen this path, just like she had magic all those years every connection, every word she spoke, was out of her genuine desire to be here with these people. Sure, maybe it was just to ensure her position by Touma's side, and sure, maybe she couldn't care any less about these mortals. But she had chosen this place, no matter what others would claim, the choice to become an esper and give up her power had been her own, and not the court's.
And she didn't regret that decision one bit.
—
Eventually, the students soon returned to their seats and classes began, Touma and Tsuchimikado arriving half way in. Othinus had felt quite uncertain at first, insulted even that she Odin, the norse head god would ever need to go to school. To think she required education from arguably inferior instructors when she could just figure them out herself was laughable. It was like the universe was laughing at her for needing to be placed in this situation and sit among mortals in a classroom.
But, despite how much it made her want to snap her pencil, Othinus was determined to prove she could push through. Something that became nearly impossible after she had been forced to go to a class separate from her human. However, she managed to, be it barley, busy herself by writing down notes and equations during her various science classes. Finding such information as one of the few things she wasn't insulted at being taught, as it was much easier than having to seek it out herself. She listened, be it seemingly half heartedly to her physical science teacher's words as he taught the basics of pressure, heat and energy transfer. Considering it was one of the few things she found of interest, she decided it best to pay attention lest she miss something important. Having actually looked into a few of the subjects while she was the leader of Gremlin with Kagun by her side.
Even she could be victim to misinformation, and she wasn't about to let herself make a mistake when studying something as complex as nuclear science. What if she ended up becoming like one of those foolish mortals who refused to accept nuclear energy out of fear rather than rational. If she was going to be against such a potent energy source, she wanted to be against it for factual reasons rather than some misconception about it being dangerous.
She did have a small incident during history class where she nearly blew her cover after getting overly passionate about the inconsistencies in the lesson. Apparently people here had an even less accurate understanding of the ransacking of linsbury than the europeans themselves. Which had lead her to go on a half hour rant regarding the viking raids and their various contributions. When asked how she knew these things, she had quickly tried to cover her ass by claiming she learned it through documents on various archeological digs.
However, by the stink eye the teacher gave her, she was pretty sure he hadn't bought her bullshit.
Finally however, the bell rang for the end of the day and Othinus gave a sigh of relief as she and Touma left the school. Her eyes practically sagging in their sockets as she slumped over slightly, her understander rubbing her back as they walked. Despite all her bragging and any enjoyment she had, Othinus was utterly and completely mentally drained. Having been separated from Touma for much longer than she felt healthy, so she was glad it was finally over.
Arriving at a small park, Othinus's rear fell into a seat at one of the tables near a food stand, her hand to her forehead. They had chosen to go out for a bit as it had been a while since they last spoke, and Touma had missed her. Which made it a good chance for Othinus to further enforce her bond with the boy and let others know he was her's.
"I hate it…"
Which was why the first thing she said shocked even her.
"Hm?" Touma blinked tilting his head as he took a bite of a hotdog he had bought for them before handing it to her.
Othinus absentmindedly took it from his hands and bit into it, before handing it back, "school human, I absolutely hate it!"
Touma chewed thoughtfully for a moment and swallowed, "is that so? What? The students too friendly for your tastes? I'd think that'd be a good thing considering how lonely you were before," he teased as they took turns with the hotdog.
"Th-thats not the issue human!" Othinus stammered and blushed, "did you not see how they acted around me? The moment I got back after you and the spy left those mortals swarmed me and began asking personal questions! I was half tempted to just try and blow them away before I remembered I can't do that without killing myself! How am I meant to respond to such a thing? What if they found out what I really am and why I'm really here!? They accept me now sure, but thats because they don't know what I've done to you! The moment the truth comes out, they will surely reject me!" she snapped back, only to receive a laugh, "whats so funny Human!?"
"N-no, it's just, seeing you worry about how people view you, guess you took a shining to them without realizing it." Touma softly smiled at her as she suddenly fell silent, "I don't really know much about what you've been through. Heck, even what little I can google about Odin doesn't really help, yeah I can tell which ones probably happened. But I'm still lacking the proper context stripped of it's mythological lens you know?" he scratched his neck a bit, nervously. "But… what I could gather told me you've likely never had the luxury of a normal life like this," he met her eyes. "So, of course you're afraid of accepting it, because you don't want it to slip through your fingers again because of something you did in the past."
"Then!" Othinus went to say, but Touma held up his hand cutting her off.
"Othi-chan… or, should I say Wothnaz-san…" he smirked, "you're really underestimating this Kamijou-san's homeroom. You saw how they were, they wouldn't care if you were secretly the demon king planning to take over the world and enslave humanity. They'ed accept you with open arms just because they can, thats the kind of people they are under the surface. So stop trying to run from it, this is the life you worked so hard to obtain remember?" he placed his hand on her's. "Embrace it, you've earned this, I know… because I've been where you are," he said, and Othinus fell silent.
It was like mimir speaking to Odin, and Othinus once again found herself back at that well all those years ago. The old fool standing beside her not long after she had drank from his well to obtain the knowledge held within. Remembering how she had expressed her worries and concerns over the changes to the world around her after obtaining the body of a god. His words rising back to the surface from the abyssal depths of her ancient and endless memories.
"So? What if they're different? Does that make it bad? My dear student, you shouldn't worry yourself so much. As a god, it is your duty to change the world for the better is it not? You cannot do that if you fear change. Embrace it, accept these new sides to those you once thought you knew, theres nothing wrong with it." He had spoken with a soft voice, his arm placed on her shoulder as he had gazed kindly at her, before she had responded.
"But what if my actions make them into something they are not? What if I change too much and stop caring about them? What if…" her words had been cut off when Mimir had placed a finger against her soft lips despite their quivering.
"Then someone else will rise to stop you, my student… so embrace change, even if that means your own change. We must always be willing to accept new and unfamiliar ideals, and forces, its how we have evolved as a culture. Especially when that means changing ourselves to suit that new world," he had spoken with a wisdom she had long forgotten. A wisdom she had lost when she had nearly lost him, and because of that, she had become exactly what she had feared.
But now… thanks to Touma, she finally remembered what he had said that day.
Returning to the present, Othinus gave a short laugh as a fond smile formed on her face and she met Touma's gaze with her own. "Do I really deserve it human? After all I've done, have I not done more damage than I can ever be redeemed for? I know that the entire world said I should be redeemed, but that was the will of the world, not the individuals. There were definitely those who chose not to speak, who remained silent hoping for my execution, humans are not as kind as you want to believe. Even if 1 percent of humanity chose to forgive me, thats still 5.9 billion people who wish me dead," she mused.
Touma shrugged, putting down the hotdog, "then they're missing out," he confidently said with a smile. "But you're right, its not up to you, or me to decide if you've been redeemed, I chose to forgive you because I knew you could change. However, it's up to you to prove to those you wronged that you are worthy of being forgiven," his expression fell. "Even if there are some that will always refuse to forgive you, but its to those people you need to try even harder because of. They may never forgive you, and do everything they can to deny that you've changed, but… as long s you remain strong and refuse to let them define you." He smiled once again, "then, in the end, if one of them decides they can't stand letting you walk around free. You'll have the world to support your back when they come knocking, I know I would," Touma said with certainty.
"You really are foolish sometimes you know that?" Othinus laughed, before giving a short sigh, "alright then. How about we focus on our homework then shall we?" she teased, causing Touma to go ridged as she smirked.
"C-can you not take advantage of this Kamijou-san's words to force something uncomfortable onto him like that!? Wh-why can't we leave this to when we get back to our dorms, we'll have all the time in the world then right?" he said, nervously sweating.
Othinus gripped down on his wrist, taking enjoyment from how he was squirming, "oooh no! You're not getting away that easily human. If I let you go home now, you'd come back to school tomorrow with some dumb excuse for why you didn't do your homework. There will be no, 'Index ate my homework' this time Human, you're stuck with me till we get this done." She chuckled, "still feeling luck then human?~" she flirted causing Touma's face to go bright red.
Stammering, Touma gave a sigh of defeat, "such misfortune…" he moaned out and met her eyes, "fine then Othi-sensie. But uh… we should still do this at my place at least, otherwise Index-chan will get upset when I'm late." He sheepishly smiled attempting to reason with the former god as she narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.
"Guess there is no helping it," Othinus sighed and straightened out, "fine then, let's finish our meal and go to your place. I'm sure the nun has a number of questions considering the trial is now over, she didn't get to stay for the verdict after all." She crossed her arms and looked to the side, not entirely looking forward to speaking with Index at all as Touma instantly brightened up.
"Th-thank you Othinus-sensie!" he beamed, causing Othinus to flush bright red from embarrassment.
—
The two understanders had quickly finished up their meal after that, and made their way to the boy's dormitory where Touma stayed. Othinus would have preferred if she could stay there permanently, but unfortunately she would need to head to the girl's dorms after curfew. So, she'd need to take this moment to check in on her human before needing to retire for the night. Even if that meant facing someone she'd rather not need to speak to such as the Index of prohibited books herself
Standard across from the nun as she held the door open for Touma, Index and Othinus' eyes met the other with great and instant intensity. As if the entire area suddenly went cold, Touma immediately nervously glanced between the two girls. For a moment he could've sworn he saw a tiger behind Index as a Dragon appeared behind Othinus just ready to attack the other without any mercy. He felt his throat dry up as Othinus crossed her arm, while looking slightly down at the small nun as Index looked up a bit. Their intense glare continued for a few more moments until.
"So… Touma's testimony and your dumb sob story worked then I guess?" Index frowned in distaste, "that why you're here?"
"If by sob story, you mean my declaration to protect the human as penance to my sins against him? Yes that is correct nun. Now stand aside, me and the human have homework to do," Othinus responded, puffing out her chest smugly. "Unless… you want to upset the human," she smirked, giving a mocking grin to the small nun as her eyes narrowed.
"I'm standing right here you know guys, I can here everything you're saying," Touma pointed out with a deadpan stare.
Index huffed and turned around, "fine, but I'm keeping my eye on you Othinus, you hurt Touma and thats enough for me not to trust you. Only reason why I'm allowing you to be with him right now is because Touma said you changed, and I trust him." She whipped back around and jabbed a finger at Othinus, "but the moment you do something to hurt him. I'm going to make sure you pay alright?" she declared, glaring into Othinus's eyes with her own emerald ones.
Othinus would normally have scoffed and asked the nun how she would go about such a task, but she didn't. Something about the look in Index's eyes stopped her, the flames of determination burning in those emerald orbs throwing her off. It wasn't that Index was confident in her abilities, or had any secret way to defeat Othinus if she did go rogue. But rather, no matter powerful Othinus was, how much smarter she is, or skilled she may appear compared to her. Index would without any shadow of a doubt, find some way to overcome and defeat the unstoppable force that was Othinus.
In the face of such determination, Othinus could only close her eyes and chuckle softly, "very well then… Index. I accept that challenge," she declared and Touma gave a sigh of relief before they stepped inside of his dorm. Making their way over to the table and sat down in order to get themselves settled in for the next few hours.
They set down their things, getting out their assignments from earlier and laid them out on the desk in the middle of the room. A low groan leaving Touma's lips as Index went over to the TV and began watching that magical girl anime she loved. Othinus personally wasn't that interested, although she heard it had captured the grimoire library's imagination. Either way it wasn't any of her concern so she could focus on her work as she got out her pencil and began looking through the assignment.
For the first few minutes, things went without any issues as, Othinus was very familiar with all the various basic fields of science. Biology, astronomy, geology, physics, they were all pretty basic things she understood intrinsically having studied them all in detail. Even the basics of quantum mechanics, relativity and similar she had needed to look into when she had been leading gremlin. Holistics and regular espers worked via the macro and micro, so understanding the basics of those two opposing forces had been vital to her plans.
However, she hadn't truly grasped the full extent as she had merely learned what she had to at the time, refusing to indulge her curiosity. Which had proven an issue here as Othinus found herself a bit confused as she looked at the assignment Komoe had given her. The paper on personal reality was not necessarily confusing per say to her, but it made her curious to the purpose. Holding her chin, she thought a moment, before frowning and looking up to speak to her understander who was sweating at the brow.
"Human? Could you explain personal reality to me a little? I was a bit distracted during your teacher's class. And I'd rather make sure I haven't missed anything," she asked, with a curious look on her face as she held her chin. "Its name seems fairly self explanatory, but I am wondering if thats misleading in some way, or if theres some context I need to understand it."
"You're asking this Kamijou-san that?" Touma groaned and leaned back, sighing, "I'll try, but I can't promise you anything. Thats the class I did the worst in, so I'm not going to be of any use to you explaining something like personal reality." Frowning, he crossed his arms and wrinkled his brow, "from what I recall... It really is what it says on the tin. Your personal reality acts as the basis for your ability, and its formed around your preconceptions or prejudices or whatever. Not exactly sure how that translates to throwing fire or lightning, but thats apparently the basic theory," he explained.
Othinus gave a small huff, "I see… that checks out with what I remember, so in a word, its your delusions and beliefs. Those who's world views are more self doubting are less likely to become high level espers than those who believe they can do anything. However thats clearly not the only contributing factor, as personality and genetics also play a role from what I studded while working with Kagun. Your preconceptions, understanding of the world, personality and genetics combine together to form your personal reality. Which is itself similar to a self contained phase that resides within your body, hence why espers can't use magic. The phase they are drawing from clashes directly with your personal reality, thus leading to the backlash you see in people like the spy."
"Touma Touma! Othinus just said a bunch of big words and I'm really confused, whats that got to do with your personal reality? I thought it had to do with Shroginder's cat the whole… um candy in a box thing," Index pouted having overheard the conversation. "Could you explain what you're talking about please?" she asked, tilting her head, and Othinus gave a smirk.
"Index! Why did you have to say that? This Kamijou-san is already grappling with the fact Othi-chan understood in an instant what this Kamijou-san hasn't been able to figure out for years!" Touma groaned, grabbing his head as he felt the smug aura radiating off Othinus, "and now she's going to brag about it as she explains every last detail to us!"
"Oh human, it's really not that complicated, but you are right, I am going to brag," Othinus teased before crossing her arms. "First, let me clarify, yes Index, it does have to do with Shroginder's cat and the heisenberg uncertainty principle. However I assume you were referring to the thought experiment made by Shroginder about a cat in a box. He had proposed it to mock the idea of heinsenberg's uncertainty principle, stating that if you placed a cat in a box. Alongside a radioactive object attached to a geiger counter used to read radiation and a vial of poison. As long as you do not open that box, the cat remains bot alive, and dead at the same time in a state called a superposition. It's only once observed that the state of uncertainty, i-e. the cat being alive or dead, collapses, and becomes one or the other."
Crossing her legs, Othinus continued, "to put it in layman's terms, if you do not know the state of an object, it will be in every possible state i can be at once. Espers exploit this probability and force the waveform to collapse into their desired outcome in order to produce their power. For example," Othinus pointed to Touma, "there is a chance no matter how small, that you will produce a static charge by sitting there. An electromaster would be able to force that small chance into being a reality, or for another example. There is a small, tiny chance that a flame could be lit right on your hand, a pyrokenetic would force that chance to become 100%. Call it probability manipulation if you'd like, but its a bit more intuitive than that, as espers do the calculations necessary to determine the exact conditions needed to make that possibility happen. An electromaster is determining charge, material resistance, conductivity and more, and selectively choosing which values to enforce onto the world around them in order to produce the desired effect."
Silence fell for a long moment as Index and Touma looked at her with triangles for mouths, blinking in shock at her explanation. The spikey haired boy's head hitting the desk as he gave a long groan of irritation, having realized he had already been surpassed in his own class by Othinus. Meanwhile, Index made a face and wrinkled her brow in concentration as she tried to figure out what Othinus meant.
Suddenly her face lit up in realization, "it's like a limited version of Ars magna!" she suddenly said, eyes glittering. "Ars magna allows the user to simulate the entire world down to it's smallest component, which lets them recreate phenomena from the world! But espers are focused on specific phenomena right? S-so an esper's calculations are like specific parts of the ars manga chant used to activate the spell. You got a chant for the air, a chant for the water, a chant for the earth, a chant for fire, and a chant for the ether! Someone like short hair for example is using fire of air, and focusing specifically on simulating that aspect of the world!"
"Not exactly what I said, but at least you're understanding it in your own way nun," Othinus mused, "unlike some people."
"Give me a break Othi-chan, you just said a bunch of big sciencie words that flew right over my head and acted like I was supposed to understand it. Like so what? If I believe I can kill god, does that mean I can actually kill god or something?" he snarked, only for Othinus to smirk back at him. "That was meant to be sarcasm damn it Othi-chan! How am I meant to accept that index understands my own assignment better than me?"
Othinus leanend to the, "provided you know the proper calculations in order to defeat 'god' as you so put it. Yes… you very well could, granted it is much more complicated than that, but thats the basic gist to get you on the right track."
"Touma, you're just stupid, Othinus explained it perfectly" Index said bluntly, causing the boy to stare at her with a look of betrayal.
With a groan, Touma's head hit the table once again, "even Index has already surpassed me in understanding how espers work. Why does this Kamijou-san even try? Such misfortune," he moaned in despair as he felt Othinus's smug gaze burrow into him.
"Not our fault you haven't found the right teacher human," the former god tease, "but good news! I'll be sure to walk you through step by step so that even a fish could understand. With my help, you'll be an expert in no time human," she declared, and Touma gave her a deadpan glare.
"That makes it sound like I'm as dumb as a fish Othi chan", he noted to which both girls responded simultaneously.
"You are Touma"
"You might as well be human!"
—
"This is…"
"Truly fascinating!"
"With something like this, we could entirely overturn the established power hierarchy in the city!"
Night had fallen over academy city as a group of scientists stood huddled around a computer holding the data from the latest system scan. Each of their expressions gripped by a haunting smile as sweat rolled down each of their brows in exhilaration. The information they had just received about a particular newcomer to the city, the image on file showing the figure holding their left eye.
"We overlooked it before because we thought she was a simple thermal hand, but upon closer inspection..." the first scientist gave an unstable laugh. "Her power doesn't merely maintain the temperature of an object, it produces and destroys the exact right amount of energy to prevent the target's heat level from changing, while allowing for energy transfer. It entirely upends the first law of thermodynamics! Who else would be the perfect candidate for level six!?"
A scientist beside him nodded, "true, there was only one other esper with this type of ability, but her's only worked with thermal energy. Still, its a shame we failed to recognize her potential sooner, but at least we have something better now. Let us submit our findings to the board of directors, they'll choose which of our two subjects to focus on."
"Between Former Terrorist Magic god Othinus, and judgment hacker Uiharu Kaziri, who do you think is more likely to be chosen? I understand the appeal of Othinus's greater potential, but she's also much more dangerous thanks to her history. Uiharu would be the safer option as a member of judgment, but she may not be as willing to work with us." The third scientist mused, "I personally feel more comfortable working with the latter due to being easier to control."
The first scientist chuckled to himself, "oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that, the official story may be that Othinus was placed here due to her actions during the Ichinaharansai. But sources say she holds a particular fondness for one of the students, implying she is here to make it up to them specifically. She may not be as hard to control as we thought," he shut down the computer, "still, it's not our decision to make."
However, as the three scientists got up to leave, they failed to notice the lens of the security camera narrow. As unbeknownst to them, they had a fourth unwelcome member of their little meeting who was observing them with unseen eyes. Had they a face, a wicked smile would have formed, and had they had a hand, they would be using it to scratch their lack of a chin. And… had they had eyes or mouth, they would be glittering as they chuckled, looking at the photo of Othinus's face left on the desk.
"Ho ho… so… you've come here, little miss former god, the greatest secret Aleister-kun has been keeping from his little garden. The other half of the world which he himself once ruled, and which you used to once reshape it to your will." Malice radiated from them as they gave a wicked mental grin, "I think it's about time this old fool activates the phoenix protocol. I've seen enough watching from Misaka-kun's eyes long enough, and I can't very well allow three amateurs to get their hands on such a… promising test subject."
Somewheres in the basement of an old abandoned lab which a certain white haired esper would recognize. The lights flickered on, as the old pods once used for cloning slid aside, revealing a secret compartment. Opening up to reveal a dark robotics lab, an old man's body lay cryogenically frozen on the table as mist poured out of the cold chamber.
Before a black ringed eye opened.
"Lets get to work shall we?"
A/N: Aaaaand thats a wrap! Thanks for making it to the end of chapter 3 of my news Fic! I'm sure there are a number of questions people have. And I'll try to answer as many as I can think of, but that could prove a bit of an issue due to how much time passed between writing the prologue and writing chaps 1 and 2! But lets get a few of the more important things out of the way first, this is an alt post NT10 story, so I'll be doing my own spins on many canon storylines. However, that doesn't mean there wont be stories original to this, as should be obvious by that last scene there. It does mean there will be some heavy tie ins as I cannot see all of the later volume stories going exactly the same. Especially with Othinus both full sized and as an esper.
Furthermore, I won't be sticking to a schedule. I want to provide quality stories to you guys, not just sheer quantity, and I can't do that by stressing myself with schedules. I'm sure a number of you will be confused as to some of the things I have brought up relating to the world, but don't take it too seriously.
For one thing, this story will be using one of the latest theories of mine and probably a few other people regarding epsers and secret chiefs. Mainly that the secret chiefs are the original gemstones that magic was based on as mentioned by Index in OT1. And reaching SYSTEM as an esper is ascending into the status as a secret chief yourself. I'll also be playing Othinus as a bit more possessive in this as she has had less time to mature and wasn't forced to face the world as a fairy like in canon. Which means she doesn't need to accept certain facts that she did as a fairy which forced her to mellow out.
Furthermore, if you think Othi being an esper is BS, look no further than tsuchi who was in the exact same position. The anglicans didn't just select him as a spy because they needed a spy, they chose him because he was dangerous and wanted his magic sealed away. Same logic here, the intent by the church and verdict was to seal Othinus's powers as a magic god entirely. Buut as you can probably tell by the title, the idea for this story is that royally backfires, just not instantly.
Finally, im sure you all have a number of questions regarding that last scene, but more specifically. I suspect some of you are going to be confused as to the reason I had Uiharu brought up at all. And well, for one thing, Kamachi himself has had it stated in world that Uiharu's power has the potential to be overpowered. Second because both her and Othinus share the ability of thermal hand in this, it makes sense to compare the two in the story. And third, like shown in Jailbreaker for as out of left field as it seemed, the true nature of her ability is more akin to entropy control. She's shown to be able to maintain temperature, yet still allow for heat transfer, something that she could only do if she was actively destroying or, creating that heat. Examples of this are her holding a box of food, using an ice-cube to keep her carotid artery cold and the fact she can still get burned or frostbite from objects she touches.
The only possible limitation to that power I can think of from a more logical mindset is that it only works with thermal energy and not just energy in general. I hope that clears up any confusion that you all may have felt at the end there, and resolve any feelings of irritation you have in the idea of me 'wanking' a level 1.
Anyways moving onto the more general things relating to the writing process, unfortunately as of writing this, rails isn't here to pitch in. So I'm going to have to go it alone if you're all okay with that, although I doubt many of you will read past the story itself. To start with, this story has been a loong time coming, I think I had the first few ideas for it all the way back while in the middle of writing LoCG. Heck! Even that opening little thing at the start of the prologue was written a while back!
Pitched the idea to the people on the Kamachiland discord, got shot down as they kept coming up with easy to resolve issues about it. Then decided, what the hell, and continued on with the idea getting the first few concept scenes done like a year or so later. The first chapter was written over a year ago, after I finished the original version of LoCG. And made the commission to Ebora/Youngmanisdown to create the cover you see, so credit to him for his amazing work.
However due to a short falling out between me and rails due to a miscommunication that I have some responsibility for. There was a few month gap between then and when we started working on the stories again, those of you coming from LoCG are probably aware of that.
The basic idea itself was something inspired by rails and a fic he's been working on, on and off with me. It's sadly not ready and I suspect he's not had much time to do what he wants with it, but none the less it gave me the idea for a alt post NT10 fic of my own. When he does release it, you'll probably notice the similarities between the start of this fic and the start of that one. As both have their own alternate versions of the ending of NT10, mine focusing on the thor fight, his focusing on Touma and Othi.
As for the insisting incident of this fic, I took a page out of What If's book, in the idea that a small, single change in one's life, can drastically change the future. It was made explicitly clear in NT10 that Touma had been unable to see Othi's face due to his swollen eyes and the blood. So, that implies, that if he did see it, he would have been able to stop her from that suicide attempt at the end. And boy was that fun to think about, this entire story had so many fun questions with fun answers that lead to even funner questions.
One important theme I'm thinking about working into this story, is the past haunting the future. If the heavy usage of flashbacks in chapter two, and the monologue about Othinus's past in chapter one didn't clue you in on that. Then the main antagonists should make it very clear, and I'm pretty sure you've all already guessed tho that is.
I have some pretty interesting plans for characters we all know and love in this story, and I hope you'll stick around for the ride. But I at least intend to deliver and make it worth your time to read, so please bare with me for now. And a very merry christmas to those who celebrate it, happy hollidays to those who don't (and other various cultural important celebrations I can't remember due to shizy memory.)
So for now, lets us close this book on a tale of infinity, till next time Craytherlay.