Eris wandered through the forest heading towards the village she found the day before
yesterday. What she had in mind was to see if she could temporarily get some kind of job to
acquire cash to buy resources, because she knew that it wasn't every day that one came
across a band of orcas with quality equipment. And if she was also planning to stay in that
cave for a long time, obviously she would need to buy furniture such as tables, chairs, and
beds. She didn't plan to continue using stones as furniture for too long.
Unfortunately, despite having proven that, unlike other monster girls, she was trustworthy,
people didn't want to know anything about her. Especially after the fight in the tavern, not to
mention her scaly limbs and four arms, so clearly she wouldn't have much luck when it came
to jobs. Something she had long been accustomed to.
Fortunately, Eris managed to buy some provisions for the next few days in the village shops
thanks to the money she earned earlier. At least she couldn't complain about food.
As Eris made her way to the village's exit, she noticed something was going on there. The
hellhound frowned upon seeing what was happening at that moment.
The city guards were arguing with a group of soldiers in red armor with yellow trim and a
dragon emblem on their breastplates, armed with various weapons.
"Nothgardian soldiers? Here?!" Eris wondered as she saw the soldiers, immediately hiding
behind the corner of a house.
Hidden there, the hellhound noticed the soldiers' armor, even seeing the symbol of a bow
and arrow on their shoulder pads.
"The Orion Regiment. That's all I need!" Eris cursed under her breath. "Aren't they going to
leave me alone even on this side of the border or what?"
After arguing with the guards, the Nothgardian soldiers entered the village looking around
and making the villagers nervous with their presence. Eris tried to hide as best she could
because at any moment they would pass by and they could discover her. Apparently, she
would have to fight them like she did in the past, but in the village with the civilians nearby?
"Pss!" Eris heard something and turned around to see the blue-haired woman from before,
on the other side of the wall of the house. "Over here!"
The hellhound saw that she was calling her to come with her, and after a moment's thought,
she followed her, managing to avoid the soldiers who entered the village. Following the
woman in front of her, she and Eris managed to leave the village through an unguarded side
and enter the forest as quickly as possible where they could go unnoticed.
"I appreciate the help, but why are you doing this? You could get into trouble," Eris said as
she followed the woman through the forest.
"I saw you were in a bind, and I decided to help you. It's what we usually do when we can,"
the woman replied, moving through the trees.
"Yeah, your secret group," Eris commented, remembering the conversation she had with her
earlier. "By the way, do you have a name or should I call you 'Sea Hair'?"
"True, we haven't introduced ourselves. Although when it comes to the name, you're not far
off," she said. "My name is Aqua. And yours?"
"My name is Eris," the hellhound replied. "And what are you doing here?"
"I think I can tell you a little bit," Aqua said. "I was sent here after a dark presence was
detected in the area. Nothing out of the ordinary, just small black creatures with yellow eyes.
People usually avoid them when they see them, and thankfully there aren't many of them.
But a massive buildup was detected around here just recently, so I came to deal with it. Plus,
I was looking for an item of some importance when we met earlier."
"I see," Eris said upon hearing his explanation. "Black creatures with yellow eyes? Quite
sinister, yes. But the softies can't take a punch. They're nothing even in groups." She said as
she bumped her fist into the hand of her upper arms.
At that moment Aqua stopped and turned around looking at Eris with a surprised face.
"Are you telling me that you took on the Heartless, bare-knuckle, and defeated them, all by
yourself!?" Aqua asked as if every word she said was implausible to herself.
"Well, not entirely alone. Sometimes I had my sisters to support me," Eris said, crossing her
upper arms under her robes without giving it much thought.
Aqua leaned against a nearby tree with one hand while placing the other on her head, her
face in shock. "It can't be, defeating the Heartless just like that? I've already been warned
about the level in this world, but with bare hands, without magic, and without using a
Keyblade?" Aqua asked herself in a low voice.
Eris stared at her, raising an eyebrow, not understanding what she was saying.
"Look, I don't know what you're saying, but I appreciate the help," Eris said, uncrossing her
arms. "Now, if you don't mind, I have to check something."
Eris ran away leaving Aqua behind who noticed what the hellhound was doing.
"Hey, wait!" Aqua exclaimed as she started running after Eris.
The two continued walking through the forest among the trees for a long time until they
heard a noise nearby, forcing them to stop. Making a gesture with her hand, Eris both
crouched down and moved crouching until they were behind some leafy bushes, from where
they could see a large number of Nothgardian soldiers in the area.
"Great… there will be at least a platoon here," Eris cursed under her breath. "And who
knows how many more there are in the forest."
"I don't understand. Why go to all that trouble just to capture you?" Aqua asked.
"They've been after me for as long as I can remember. I've been running from them my
whole life," Eris replied.
"Your whole life? Why?" Aqua asked in surprise.
"I don't know, and I don't care," Eris said, rolling her eyes to the side. "Maybe it's because
I'm a carnival show based on my appearance. As you can see, I'm not the average
hellhound."
"Aren't hellhounds like you?" Aqua asked.
"Of course not!" she exclaimed in a low voice.
"Eris!" a voice sounded behind them.
Eris and Aqua turned to see Nami and Catilia crouching towards them.
"Nami! Catilia! Are you okay?" Eris asked.
"Yeah, we're fine," Nami replied.
"What the hell are you doing here? You should be in the cave," Eris said to the two of them.
"That's the problem," Catilia said. "We saw them approaching and had to leave the cave.
They've probably already searched it."
"They probably already know we're in the area," Nami said.
"Great, as if things couldn't get any worse," Eris said with a hand on her head.
"Oh, yes, he can go," said Catilia. "He is here."
"How?!" Eris asked in shock.
"Have you found anything?!"
The four of them turned at the shout, directing their gaze from behind the bushes to the
soldiers who were in the area. There they saw another person standing between them and
directing his gaze to the soldiers who turned to him. Eris frowned at the sight of said person.
"Who is that man who looks like he's dressed as a cowboy?" Aqua asked, describing the
person who had just arrived.
"That's Wolfgun," Nami replied. "The commander of the Orion Regiment. And the man who
has been after Eris since the beginning."
Aqua didn't say anything and turned her gaze to Wolfgun who was talking to his men.
"Come on! It can't be that hard to find someone in this forest," Wolfgun said out loud.
"But Commander, the forest is huge," said one of the soldiers. "If only we could use the
werewolves for tracking…"
"You know very well that we are already taking a risk by bringing the main division of the
army outside the border!" Wolfgun exclaimed to the soldier. "We can't risk a member of the
Beast Army going crazy and taking one of the locals as a husband."
"Yes, but as was said, the forest is huge, and we have been searching for quite a while," said
another of the soldiers.
"That's why I've filled the forest with search squads!" Wolfgun exclaimed. "One of them
should be able to find her!"
"Unless she left the forest," another soldier said.
"Impossible! I just received a report that they have found a cave that was very recently
abandoned."
"Damn it! They found the cave!" Eris cursed under her breath. "Now we can only leave the
forest. If only it weren't infested with soldiers."
"I think I can do something. Stay here," Aqua said as she stood up and made her way
through the undergrowth, despite the silent complaints of Eris and the others.
Aqua moved forward a little until she was seen by one of the soldiers, causing the rest to
point their weapons at her as she stopped.
"Hey, calm down. I'm not looking for a fight," Aqua said, raising her arms through her cloak.
"And may I know who you are, Miss?" Wolfgun asked, turning to her.
"My name is Aqua, and I'm just a traveler," Aqua replied.
"A traveler, huh? And may I ask what you're doing alone in a place like this? There are
monsters on the loose." Wolfgun asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Let's say I'm just passing through," she replied.
"I'm sorry, miss. Forgive me if I don't believe you, but I have a saying: if someone tells you
they're just 'passing through' you have to look at them with a fine-tooth comb. Don't be
offended." The man said, approaching Aqua with his hands behind his back.
"I'm not offended," Aqua replied, trying to maintain her composure. "By the way, what are
you doing here?"
"All I can tell you is that we are looking for a very dangerous creature. You are lucky you
didn't come across it," Wolfgun said.
"And what does that creature look like if I see it?" Aqua asked.
"Well, it's something like that," Wolfgun said, searching for something in his trench coat.
"Where did I find it? Has anyone seen the book I had? Damn encyclopedia…"
"I believe I have a copy of the page, sir," said a soldier, handing him a sheet of paper.
Wolfgun took the sheet and showed it to Aqua who glanced at the image on it but looked at
the page strangely. The sheet seemed to depict a hellhound, but the image on the sheet
was… too suggestive. Although now Aqua knew what a genuine hellhound looked like.
"Are they all the same or is it just the standard image?" Aqua asked, somewhat
uncomfortable.
"Ah, well, we're looking for the author," Wolfgun said, tossing the sheet of paper aside. "But
don't be fooled. The one we're looking for is a bit different than what appears in the drawing.
Four arms and two legs covered by an exoskeleton shell, and a matching tail. Other than
that, it's all the same. And believe me, it's more dangerous than it looks."
"Yeah, that's funny you should say," Aqua said, catching his attention. "I think I saw
something similar to what you described running west an hour ago."
Wolfgan raised an eyebrow looking at her for a while until he turned around and took a
locket that was around his neck and opened it showing a crystal in it, making it shine.
"This is Wolfgun to Platoon Seven-Three-Two-Four-One-One-Three-One's officer," Wolfgun
said to the medallion crystal.
"This is the officer, sir," a voice answered from the glass.
"Has anything or anyone happened at your location in the last hour?"
"No sir. Not a soul has passed through here."
"Very well, keep it up," Wolfgun said before closing the locket and turning his head towards
Aqua.
Aqua herself was tense, having been caught lying about something very important, and who
knows how they're going to react to it.
"It seems we have a problem here, lady," Wolfgun said, turning to her. "Either you have the
wrong address, or you are hiding something from us."
Wolfgun snapped his fingers, and the soldiers pointed their weapons at Aqua, who looked
around.
"Hey, calm down. I don't think there's any need to get all serious, gentlemen," Aqua said,
raising her hands halfway as she looked around.
One of the soldiers lunged at her brandishing his sword, but she stepped aside and knocked
him down with a sweep to the leg. Another tried to impale her with his spear but the only
thing it pierced was the cape, with no one there. The soldier looked confused until he heard
a noise behind him and looked behind him, seeing the girl without the cape, dressed in
addition to the two white sleeves and fingerless gloves with a blue and black high-collared
top with two belts crossed over her breasts with an insignia where they cross, long black
socks or stockings up to her knees leaving a small area between them and the pants with
exposed skin, two sorts of whitetails on the sides of the pants that join with a white ribbon at
the waist, and two silver metallic boots shaped like hooks on each side of her ankles. The
soldier tried to turn to attack her but she did a somersault delivering a kick that sent him to
the ground.
Aqua tried to turn around but when she turned around she saw herself facing a guy with a
kind of revolver pointing at her face.
"Damn!" Aqua cursed as she saw the weapon so close.
"You shouldn't have done that, young lady," Wolfgun said as he held the gun in his hand
against Aqua. "Now we'll have to see what we do with you."
The man smiled as he pointed at Aqua until his face changed to surprise after he looked
down and saw that she had a strange, bluish key-shaped sword in her hand.
"A Keyblade?"
One of the downed soldiers groaned as he looked around as stood up, and just then he saw
that someone was hiding behind the underbrush, quickly seeing who was there.
"Damn." Eris cursed as she saw the soldier look in her direction.
"Sir! There! The creature is there, behind the bushes!" The soldier pointed with his finger at
the bushes where Eris and the others were.
Wolfgun turned to see that Eris was right where the soldier was pointing, which Aqua used to
hit him with her Keyblade and knock him down, immediately running to where Eris and the
others were, following her shortly after.
"Idiots!" Wolfgun said furiously, lifting his head from the ground. "Get them immediately!"
The girls ran through the middle of the forest without slowing down their pace.
"Come on, let's go! If we don't get out of here, we'll have more than a hundred soldiers on
us!" Eris warned as they ran.
"But how many men can they have in this forest?" Aqua asked, running up to them.
"Who knows! Maybe one or two companies! At worst, an entire battalion! And that's more
than five hundred soldiers!" Nami exclaimed.
"More than five hundred?!" Aqua asked in shock upon hearing the number. "Seriously, that
many people just to capture you?"
"You wait until you see the entire regiment and then tell me," Eris commented.
"Less talking and more running, girls!" Catilia warned, running after them.
"In that case, we must find a way out of the forest before-" Aqua said when she was
interrupted by a white laser that almost hit her from behind.
"Damn it! What bad luck!" Eris exclaimed, looking back, seeing several soldiers carrying
weapons resembling pistols and rifles following them from a distance and firing white lasers
from the weapons at them. "I curse the day they developed that technology!"
"Keep running!" Aqua exclaimed, staying a little behind them and using her hand to create a
barrier to block the soldiers' gunfire behind them.
But despite that protection, she couldn't keep the barrier and run at the same time, and
sometimes she had to undo the barrier to reach Eris and the others. Unfortunately, on one
occasion, one of the shots hit her arm. Aqua exclaimed in pain at the impact, holding her
arm with her hand, but noticing that something was strange. It didn't seem to have burn
marks, but she did notice how the arm went numb after the impact as if it had fallen asleep
or paralyzed. She then saw that those weapons weren't primarily designed to kill but to stun
and paralyze their victim, which made those weapons just as dangerous despite not causing
permanent damage. But now with one arm disabled, Aqua could only run as fast as she
could avoiding the shots coming from behind them.
"Catch them, you idiots! Don't let them escape!" Wolfgun's voice shouted, who seemed to be
approaching behind the soldiers as well.
The four of them continued running without stopping, trying to get as far away from their
pursuers as they could, until Eris tripped over a branch that made her fall to the ground,
causing the others to fall on top of her.
The situation was becoming truly desperate. With them on the ground, and the Nothgardian
soldiers approaching from behind, and who knows if more soldiers are heading there from
other directions.
"It seems that this is where we've come from," Catilia said. "It was nice while it lasted."
"Don't be a defeatist, Catilia. We will find a way out," Nami said.
"Defeatist, you say? We're lucky they didn't have the heavy artillery with them!" exclaimed
Catilia.
"Just leave it alone, will you?!" Eris asked.
At that moment, Eris looked forward, seeing a stone that looked like a crystalline star. Aqua
also saw the object, but this time with surprise on her face.
"Isn't that…?" Aqua muttered upon seeing the object, hearing footsteps the next moment.
"Get it, quickly!"
"What? That?" Eris asked.
"Don't ask, just do it!" Aqua ordered seriously.
"Okay, okay! Here we go!" Eris said, reaching out and taking the stone in her hand.
Just as the hellhound grabbed the object, it began to glow with a dazzling green glow that
covered the group. Just then the soldiers reached the clearing, but the only thing they saw
after the glow disappeared was a small star that kept moving in the air, making erratic jumps.
"What is this thing?!" Nami asked from the star.
"Relax, we'll be fine! I hope so." Aqua said from the star.
"That doesn't reassure anyone!" Eris exclaimed from the star.
"Seriously, does anyone know how to handle this?" Catilia asked from the star.
"What the hell?" a soldier asked when he saw what was happening. "Take it down!"
The armed soldiers began firing at the star, but it moved so erratically that it was almost
impossible to hit it as it ascended.
At that moment Wolfgun arrived at the place seeing what was happening, immediately
getting an idea of what was happening.
"Give me that!" Wolfgun exclaimed to a soldier as he took his rifle.
Wolfgun held the rifle firmly as he aimed at the erratic star, watching it move, until he finally
fired at it, and against all odds the laser hit the star, causing a large blinding flash of green
with the impact that turned the blue sky a bright greenish hue.
Eris moaned with her eyes closed. She didn't know what had happened. The last thing she
remembered was her picking up the strange star stone and ending up inside a beam of
green light, and how one of the Nothgardian soldiers managed to hit them.
The hellhound began to open her eyes. She didn't know what time it was, as she was in a
closed room with no windows, but at least it was illuminated by what looked like a lamp on
the ceiling. At least from what she felt on her back she knew she was on a bed. Turning her
head to the side, she also saw that the room itself seemed very different from the ones she
was used to, more modern looking.
And without warning she saw the face of a woman with pale purple skin, black hair, and
amber eyes.
Eris's eyes widened at the sight of her and she instinctively grabbed her arms with her lower
arms and pinned her to the bed with the hellhound on top of the stranger, holding her arms
firmly, supporting herself with her upper arms at the sides of the girl's head.
"Who the hell are you and where the hell am I?!" Eris questioned the girl in a serious voice.
The girl blinked a few times at that question, but then she walked across the bed and down,
leaving Eris lying confused on the bed.
"Hey, calm down. There's no need to be so serious," the girl said as she appeared beside
the bed, crossing the floor.
Eris looked at her confused for a moment until she sat on her knees looking at her seriously.
"So a ghost, huh?" Eris asked, looking at her.
The ghost girl nodded. Eris then noticed that the ghost girl was wearing a blue sleeveless
top that left the underside of her breasts exposed, blue panties, a wide blue necklace, long
blue fingerless gloves that reached down to below the shoulder with metal rings on the ends
of the gloves and wrist cuffs, and blue leg warmers that reached up to thigh height with the
toes and heel exposed with metal rings on the thigh and above the ankle. She also seemed
to have chains on the metal rings on her wrists and ankles.
"Okay, let's begin again. Who are you and where am I?" Eris asked.
"Alice, are you scaring the girl already?"
The ghost, Alice, turned towards the entrance of the room putting on a nervous smile. Eris
also turned around, seeing there a dark-skinned woman with long whitish pink hair and
orange tiger eyes, a pair of fangs protruding from her mouth, orange tiger ears, and a tail
with black stripes and a muscular form. Just like Alice, she had the same outfit but in her
case, it was white with black stripes like those of a white tiger.
"Calm down Cath. I just came to check on our guest," Alice said nervously.
"Well, next time don't get so close to my face," Eris said sourly.
"Relax," the tiger woman said. "This is Alice, and I am Catherine, but everyone calls me
Cath, and the leader of the BSG."
"BSG? What the hell is that?" Eris asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It's an acronym for Battle Suit Girls," Alice replied. "You don't like it?"
"We are a group of heroines who maintain peace and order on the island," Cath explained.
"Heroines, you say?" Eris asked in surprise. "So, those weird outfits you two are wearing…"
"They are our uniforms, yes," Alice replied.
The hellhound looked at the ghost girl skeptically. "Well, from those looks, you two look like
you just came out of a brothel or something."
"I admit that some of us worked in something similar before becoming heroes," Cath snorted
while scratching her head and looking to the side.
"Okay, whatever you say," Eris replied, wanting to change the subject. "I am Eris, and more
importantly, where am I, and how far are we from the border with Nothgard?"
The tiger woman and the ghost girl looked at each other for a moment until Alice spoke.
"Are you going to tell her, or should I? Maybe the others will explain it better."
Eris stared at the two of them in silence for a moment, processing what the ghost girl had
said.
"Tell me what?" the hellhound asked.
Cath sighed and looked at Eris. "Relax. We're just thinking about how to get it out to you."
"Get it out what?"
"You're not in your world anymore?" Alice asked innocently.
"I'm what?!" Eris asked dryly upon hearing her.
At one point Cath led Eris to a huge window where she could see outside. The hellhound put
her hands on the window as she stared in disbelief.
"You got to be kidding me!" Eris exclaimed, finding it hard to believe what she was seeing,
putting all four arms out the window.
From the large window, she could see that she was not in the typical medieval city she was
used to, but a gigantic city of concrete buildings much larger than any building she had ever
seen, and much more modern than any other city she knew.
"Welcome to Ectoville," Alice said, coming up behind her.
Eris continued looking at the city through the window, noticing that she was also in a large
building, not as big as the others, but bigger than what she saw before. Then she
remembered something important.
"Wait a minute, what about my sisters?! Where are they?!" Eris asked, turning hastily to
Cath.
"You mean the others?" Cath asked, trying to calm Eris down. "They're fine, they're
downstairs."
Eris stared at her seriously until the tiger woman noticed what was happening, pointing in a
direction. "The stairs are over there."
Like a flash of lightning, Eris ran towards the stairs, leaving Cath and Alice alone.
"Okay, she reacted just like the other two," Cath said, putting her hands on her waist.
"I know!" Alice said with a smile. "I saw that coming."
"The funny thing is that the human didn't react the same way as they did," the tiger woman
said.
Eris ran down the hall until she found the stairs and started going down them as fast as she
could.
"Nami! Catilia! Where are you?!" Eris exclaimed when she arrived at the floor looking for
both of them, not caring if she had to search the entire building.
"Eris? Is that you?"
As the hellhound turned a corner, she saw Nami and Catilia approaching her and at that very
moment she hugged them tightly with all four of her arms, both returning the hug.
"Oh, you don't know how happy I am to see you!" Eris exclaimed, hugging them.
"And we are sure you are okay," Nami said.
"True, we almost thought you were never going to wake up," Catilia said.
"Is that your sister?"
The three of them turned to see who spoke, seeing a pale-skinned girl sitting on a couch,
with long orange hair tied in two pigtails and grey and green eyes, athletic complexion, with
stitches on her face, arms, and legs, and dressed in the same uniform as the others, but
completely black and with spiked collars on her wrists and ankles.
"Yes, Mel. Believe it or not, we are her sisters, and we have raised this girl for a long time,"
Catilia said.
"Hey, do you know that one?" Eris asked, looking at the girl, even more than necessary. "Is
she a zombie?"
"Eris, this is Melissa, and you could say she's a Frankenstein girl… if I understand correctly,"
Nami said. "She's like a golem, but made of flesh."
"Yeah, whatever you say," Eris said deadpan. She obviously had no idea what a
Frankenstein was.
Catilia continued. "Mel is part of the BSG that has allowed us to stay here for now and-"
"Yes, yes, I already met the ghost girl and the jinko upstairs." Eris interrupted.
"Jinko?" Mel asked confused at the term Eris used.
"I think she means Alice and Cath," Nami clarified. "It's just that in our world we have a race
of monsters that resembles her."
"Ah, I see, I see!" Mel said with a laugh, quickly turning to Nami. "Oh, by the way, the
dumplings yesterday were delicious. Could you make them for when I go on patrol?" She
asked with a wide grin.
"Well, I don't see why not, but I have to see if there are enough ingredients," the cat girl
replied.
"Nami, are you back to cooking for others like always?" Eris asked with a mischievous smile.
"Did I really hear dumplings?" Alice asked as she fell through the ceiling upside down.
"You have some pretty good ears. And you were upstairs," Nami said, looking at the ghost
girl.
"Well, he has an ear for what interests him," Mel commented.
"Uh, Alice…" Catilia began, somewhat nervous. "You shouldn't have shown up there."
"And why is that?" Alice asked confused.
A growl began to be heard coming from Eris, who happened to have Alice's hair in her face,
and at that moment the hellhound grabbed her hair with both hands and pulled it down
causing the ghost girl to abruptly fall from the ceiling, but fortunately she went through the
floor without any problem.
Eris took a deep breath after that. "I hate ghosts and their habit of suddenly appearing in
your face, as well as putting their ghostly hair in your face. Who knows where that has
been!"
"Well, your hair isn't exactly suited to formal wear, so to speak," Mel replied to the
hellhound's words.
"Looks like you're awake now," Aqua said, approaching them.
"Hello, Aqua!" Mel exclaimed happily.
As soon as Eris turned to Aqua, the hellhound became extremely enraged. "You!" She tried
to attack Aqua who backed away to get safe from her wrath, but Alice reappeared and
grabbed her with her chains so she couldn't advance too far, while Cath, who had come
down, got in the way in case the ghost girl failed to restrain her. "You can already explain
what that stone was and what this thing about us being in another world is!"
"Okay, calm down," Cath said with a hand in front of Eris.
"I see it as complicated since hellhounds take a while to calm down when they're raging.
Especially her," Nami explained. "Believe me, we live with her."
"No problem," Aqua said. "For starters, that star fragment is a Gummi Block and has the
ability to teleport whoever is holding it and whoever is in direct contact with it to another
world. And about that… it's a long story."
At that moment Aqua began to explain to Eris about the existence of worlds other than her
own and that it was very difficult to go from one world to another if one lacked a means of
transportation capable of withstanding such a journey. Nami and Catilia did not react to her
explanation, since she had already told them while Eris was unconscious, but the hellhound
in question…
"Let me see if I can understand this. Are you telling me that we are currently in another
world, far away from everything we know, who knows exactly where?" Eris asked after
hearing Aqua's explanation.
"Yeah, that's pretty much how it is," Aqua replied.
Eris was silent for a few seconds until he raised his voice above her. "Do you have any idea
how much trouble this could cause?!"
"Well, it was either this or getting captured. There weren't many options." Aqua reasoned
with her.
Eris groaned in exasperation as she held a hand to her forehead, trying to process it all in
her mind, but it was too complicated.
"I can't take it anymore! I need some fresh air!" Eris said, heading for the stairs.
"If you're thinking of walking, I don't suggest it," Mel said.
"And why, precisely?" Eris asked without turning around.
"The way you're dressed. You'd attract too much attention."
The Frankenstein girl had a point, as she wasn't wearing the tunic that usually hid her body
and was only wearing her breastplates, her panties, and her necklace. But at that moment
Eris wasn't in the mood to argue.
"Then I'll borrow something," Eris said, grabbing a black trench coat from the living room.
"Hey, that's mine!" Mel exclaimed.
Eris tried to put on the trench coat, but it didn't seem to be designed for people with four
arms. She didn't care, as she pushed her lower arms through the fabric under the sleeves to
get it on, much to Mel's complaints. And with that, Eris headed downstairs to the lower floors.
Cath went to follow her to bring her back, but Catilia grabbed her by the arm.
"Leave her alone. She might as well walk and calm down as best she can. She has a lot to
process right now," the catgirl said to the tigerwoman, who thought for a moment.
"Okay," Cath replied. "I'm still going to follow her just in case something happens. Who
knows what trouble she might get into, or cause."
"Plus, that trench coat cost me a fortune!" Mel said angered.
Nami and Catilia nodded and Cath left to follow Eris, but not before stopping at the
command room on the first floor.
"May I know what is going on and why one of our guests just stormed off grumbling so loudly
that I could hear her from here?" said a pale-skinned woman with dark purple hair and red
eyes, pointed ears, and two fangs sticking out of her mouth, wearing the same uniform but in
dark red with black bats printed on it.
"I'm sorry, Carmilla. I don't think he took the fact that he's here and not where he should be
very well," Cath said. "By the way, any news from him?"
"No, not yet," Carmilla replied, standing in front of a computer. "Do you think we should have
told him about… her?"
"If Mel's genetic tests were true, he deserves to know. After all, he's the only one who was
supposed to have 'it'," Cath replied. "Plus, we'll have to keep an eye on her because of that
other 'part' of her DNA. I'm going to follow her for now. She might cause no trouble. And
warn the others in case they find her in their patrol car."
After that Cath went on her way.
"Well, I still think it's just a coincidence," Carmilla commented as she continued working on
the computer. "After all, he doesn't have four arms, nor does he look like an alien."
Eris left the building and started walking through the city. At first, she wasn't interested in
what was going on around her, but as she walked she noticed what people were doing,
trying to imitate them so as not to draw too much attention. Especially to avoid having an
accident with the strange vehicles that circulated on the street between the buildings.
One of the things that caught her attention was that the city was not only filled with humans
but also with monsters, both male and female, and of very different appearances than she
was used to. In addition, it also indicated that absolutely no one in the city paid attention to
her. She was taken as part of the city, including her special appearance, which was quite a
relief after everything she had been through for twenty years. Always hiding, always on
guard, always hiding her unnatural limbs, always on the lookout for anyone who thought they
had a big prize from the reward for her capture.
Surprisingly, and for the first time, Eris could truly rest easy, without any Order trying to kill
her for being a monster, and without the Empire and its Orion regiment.
"Hey, pretty!"
That voice brought her back to reality. Apparently, she ended up accidentally in an alley
where there were two people, one in front of her and one behind her, both with outlandish
looks, Mohawk hairstyles, and tattoos on their bodies.
"Tell me, are you lost?" asked the man in front of her.
"So what if I have? Are you planning to help me?" Eris asked, not feeling intimidated by
those two.
"Yes, maybe. But only if you help us," said the one in the back. "As long as you give us
everything of value you have, that will do."
"Thieves," Eris said quietly, before looking at the man in front of her. "Sorry, but I don't have
anything on me."
"Well, in that case, we'll take your clothes. We'll probably get something from the pawnshop,"
the man said with a smile on his face.
"Well, to be honest, I don't have too much on me," Eris said.
Eris immediately opened her trench coat, revealing to the man the scant clothing she was
wearing, which surprised the man. The hellhound took advantage of this distraction to deliver
a strong blow to his chin, knocking him to the ground.
"Damn bitch!" the man behind her exclaimed, but when he approached he received a kick in
the stomach that made him kneel.
Within seconds, Eris threw the two thugs into some huge garbage containers.
"Next time, be nicer," Eris said before closing the lids with them inside.
After that, Eris walked out of the alley and continued walking, but then stopped.
"You know it's rude to follow someone?" Eris asked, turning around to find Cath standing
several feet away from her with her arms crossed.
"I'm just making sure you don't get into trouble in my town," Cath said, quickly pointing
behind her. "Though I think you manage just fine on your own."
"Well, what did you expect from someone who has been on the run his entire life?" Eris
asked with a frown.
"Yeah, your sisters explained everything to me," Cath said. "You must have had a rough life."
"Well, I never really get bored. I travel a lot, beat up soldiers, mercenaries, and monster girl
raiders, and I even have a few wild nights out along the way," Eris explained.
"Well, Nami said they did other things too, like helping people in need and stuff like that,"
Cath said. "A bit contradictory from what I heard about your race."
"Yeah, there's an exception to everything, right?" Eris said, leaning against the wall.
"Especially me, who doesn't know if I'm half bug or half lizard, not counting the extra arms."
"Alien, more like," she said under her breath. "And that doesn't have anything to do with you
wanting to be a heroine?" Cath asked.
Eris looked at her with silent eyes when the tiger woman asked that question.
"Yeah, I admit it. It sounds weird, but even if it doesn't seem like it, I like helping people who
are in trouble. Especially those who are victims of brainless bullies," Eris said. "I really tend
to be on the lookout for that. I was even a little surprised to learn that there were monsters
playing heroes."
"Well, it's not that unusual, since this is a society of heroes. You can literally meet at least
one hero in a town or city," Cath explained.
"I see," Eris said, looking up at the sky. "Tell me, can I ask you a question? Do you think I
could be a hero? The truth is that it's been my dream ever since I was little and my father
told me about real heroes."
Cath sighed after hearing that. "I highly doubt it."
Eris turned her face to Cath.
"A hero is constantly risking his life," Cath said. "Do you want me to tell you if you can
become one? If you are not specially trained for it, or if you do not have any superpowers, it
is impossible."
Eris frowned when she heard that, clenching one of her lower fists.
"I've seen heroes with more strength than we have in the BSG fall to villains and threats
despite their strength. Trust me when I say that being a hero is not something to be taken
lightly." Cath said. "I know personally one who had to retreat after facing the greatest threat
this world has ever known, and it's a miracle he survived that battle."
Cath sighed, adding more. "Having dreams isn't bad. But you also have to learn to accept
reality. You are a mix between a beast from hell and a succubus, if what your sisters told me
is true, plus something else. If I can suggest something, you could settle in one of the cities
near Ectoville. There you could have a peaceful life without being hunted down."
Eris fell silent after hearing her explanation, but then she growled angrily and walked away
from Cath without saying a word.
"I'm sorry, miss," Cath said with her eyes closed as Eris walked away.
"Hey bro, do you think he'll wake up today?" asked a young dark-skinned, blond-haired tiger
boy with white tiger ears and a tail, wearing a tank top and white pants with a white collar,
who was walking with an older dark-skinned, blond-haired tiger boy with orange tiger ears
and a tail wearing a tank top and black pants.
"I don't know, Noah. That girl has been asleep for days, and no one knows when she will
wake up." The older brother replied.
"Do you think he'll tell us anything when he wakes up, Chris?" Noah asked again.
"What do I know? Besides, aren't his brothers supposed to have told us everything they
know?" Chris replied.
"True," Noah replied. "By the way, don't you find it weird that those cat girls are sisters of a
dog?"
"The weirdest thing is that that dog has four arms and looks like a bug," Chris said, rubbing
her hair with his hand.
"And you think he's strong?" Noah asked.
"I don't know. Just go on the run in hostile territory for twenty years, and then tell me about
it," Chris replied, causing both him and Noah to laugh.
At that moment, they both passed by an alley, where they noticed a strange man with a huge
bag approaching them, breathing heavily as if he was losing his strength.
"Are you okay, sir?" Noah asked.
At that moment the man showed a sinister smile on his face as he looked at the brothers.
Eris was walking down the street, visibly angry at Cath's words about her dream of being a
heroine, but also dejected knowing that she had no way to refute the tiger woman's logic on
the matter.
"Damn jinko… you should say that to me…" Eris said to herself as she walked. "I know that
the path of the hero is complicated, but as much as saying that to me…"
Eris continued walking, kicking an empty can on the ground a few times.
"But maybe she's right. I've been on the run for twenty years, and my only combat
experience is with imperial troops, mercenaries, monster girls who wanted to abduct me,
stupid adventurers who wanted to become heroes quickly… yes, it's clear that if I had come
across a Lilim or an elite hero of the Leader Goddess I wouldn't have come out alive." Eris
continued talking to herself. "And yes, on more than one occasion I have had to flee instead
of staying and fighting… I don't know… maybe I should rethink my priorities now that…"
Suddenly, she began to hear a large number of small explosions near her. Eris began to look
around to see if she could spot where the noise was coming from. The hellhound continued
walking until she came across a large number of people crowded in front of an alley.
"What the hell is going on there?" Eris asked, coming closer to see.
Eris began to move among the people, who seemed afraid of what was happening in front of
them, and as soon as she managed to get in front of them, she could see what was
happening.
Right in front of her was a man dressed in an orange jumpsuit with hiking boots and a black
bandana, holding a young tiger boy in one hand while clutching a machete in the other.
What's more, there appeared to be at least one more identical to him armed with what
looked like rifles firing into the sky to keep people away from them. And at least four more
were apparently holding an older tiger boy on the ground.
Apparently, there were also three members of the BGS, a pink-haired woman in a purple
uniform with blue stripes, a black-haired Egyptian-looking woman in a yellow uniform with
bandages on her arms and legs, and a huge green alien woman in an orange uniform. All
three seemed to be keeping their distance from the group that was causing trouble.
"Let me warn you! If any of you girls use a machine or use your blindfolds, or do any weird
mind tricks, the kid doesn't tell!" The man threatened the girls, holding the young tiger boy
firmly as he tried to break free.
"Damn it. What do we do now, Nell?" the alien asked the woman in the purple suit.
"I don't know, Tya. This is too dangerous," Nell said. "If Cleo hadn't screwed up and gotten
him when she could…"
"Don't blame me! That guy multiplies more than rabbits in mating season!" exclaimed the
Egyptian woman.
Eris continued to watch as the situation developed without any change.
Cath soon arrived at the scene, probably hearing the gunshots from the thugs, and from
behind the crowd, she could see what was happening, her eyes widening as she saw the
two hostages there.
"Oh no! Noah, Chris!" Cath exclaimed when she saw them in that state.
"Why don't heroines do anything?" asked a woman in the audience.
"They can't intervene. They have two hostages and have threatened to harm them if they
come closer or do anything," a man replied.
"Well, I know that guy. There's no doubt that he's Multibad."
"Multibad? The villain from the United Kingdom? The same one who can self-replicate by
making those solid copies of air? What the hell is he doing here, in Ectopia?"
"I'm rather wondering how the hell it got here?"
The situation was truly desperate, as it was clear that if any of the three heroines did
something, the hostage could die at the hands of the villain, and the same would happen if
Cath were to intervene, leaving them to only watch.
'Damn it… is there no way to fix this? Can't anyone do anything now?' Eris thought as she
watched what was happening, clenching her fists tightly. 'I wish… I wish someone more
capable would come, and put an end to this madness.'
Eris watched as Multibad was grabbing young Noah as he tried to free himself, until the little
boy made a desperate gesture on his face, visible to Eris.
At that moment, Cath, Nell, Cleo, and Tya witnessed something extremely unusual. Eris,
without even thinking about it, had started running towards Multibad, to everyone's surprise.
"Isn't that the girl who was unconscious?" Cleo asked confused.
"Where are you going?" Nell exclaimed to Eris. "Stop! It's very dangerous!"
"And that aunt, where does she come from?" Multibad wondered as he saw Eris running
towards her.
'What do I do? What the hell am I doing? Why?' Eris thought as she ran towards him and his
clones.
"Stop her!" Multibad ordered his clones, who began to open fire on her.
'Quick. Think fast.' Eris pressed as she dodged the shots from the Multibad clones at her.
'Fine, what's done is done. Now I can only go forward.'
Faced with the situation, Eris thought of the similarity between the clones of Multibad and the
Nothgardian soldiers who used their firearms against her, which allowed her to focus on
getting closer until she reached the clones in front of her.
She quickly approached one of them before he could shoot and grabbed his arm and threw
him against another of the clones, causing both of them to fade away with the crash.
'So these doubles vanish if they get hit, huh?' Eris thought, rolling to avoid more bullets from
the clones' guns. "So be it!"
Eris grabbed a garbage bag that was on the ground against one of the clones, causing it to
disappear upon impact, immediately throwing a glass bottle against the remaining clone's
forehead, getting the same result.
With her path clear, Eris lunged at Multibad who was threatened by Eris' advance, but before
he could do anything the hellhound grabbed the arm holding the machete and moved behind
him pulling on the arm, making him whimper in pain, but without letting go of Noah.
"Owooowowowow! Stop pulling, damn it! You're going to rip my arm off, you damn animal!"
Multibad exclaimed as Eris continued to pull on his arm, suddenly seeing two other arms
grab him by the neck from behind. "What the hell are you?!"
"But what are you doing?" Noah asked when he saw what Eris was doing.
"Don't even ask me! My legs started running by themselves!" Eris exclaimed as she pulled
Multibad's arm. "Besides, I sensed that you were crying for help with your eyes!"
Cath was shocked to hear Eris's words as she did what she and the other BSG members
were supposed to do at that moment.
"Damn it!" Cath swore, clenching her fists. "Me and my big mouth! I should be ashamed of
myself!"
"Enough of this nonsense!" Multibad exclaimed, creating a copy that attacked Eris.
But she dodged the attack and released Multibad's arm, using the opportunity to jump in
front and grab Noah and release him from her firm grip, and hug him tightly with her lower
arms to protect him, although that left her kneeling close to the villain.
"I'm fed up with you! Get lost!" Multibad exclaimed, raising his arm with his machete ready to
attack.
"Get out of there right now, it's going to tear you apart!" Nell screamed as she and the other
two tried to run towards them.
"Noah!" Chris exclaimed under the Multibad clones.
Multibad lowered his arm to attack them with the machete while Eris protected herself with
her upper arms, but her attack was blocked halfway, as Cath had jumped to the spot before
anyone else and had blocked the villain's attacking arm with her left arm.
"I have a big mouth, I admit it," Cath said to Eris while holding Multibad's arm in place.
"Cath…" Eris murmured, still holding Noah in her embrace.
"After everything I told you… how could I just sit back?" Cath said, the sclera of her eyes
turning black. "A pro hero is constantly risking his life!"
And with those words, Cath pushed Multibad's arm aside, leaving him completely
defenseless against the tiger woman.
"Go to hell and get out of my town!" Cath exclaimed, throwing a punch at his face.
The blow was so strong that it sent Multibad flying several meters, landing violently against a
garbage container.
"Uh oh!" One of Multibad's clones exclaimed, just before he and the other clones
disappeared, leaving only the original unconscious against the dented container.
Everyone was silent watching what happened, until then people started cheering Cath for
what happened.
"Well, at least the situation has been resolved well," Nell commented.
"Okay, but don't tell him that I let him get away earlier. It would be bad for my reputation,"
Cleo commented to the others.
After that, Noah and Chris were taken to an ambulance that had arrived to be treated for any
injuries they might have, while Nell scolded Eris for the recklessness she had committed in
that situation, although at least Multibad was put inside a police van, tied up from top to
bottom so that he wouldn't cause any more problems. But when the journalists and reporters
arrived at the scene, the hellhound took the opportunity to slip away.
Eris walked through the streets of the city as it began to get dark in the city, surprised to see
no one on the streets.
"What a day, and what a mess I've gotten myself into this time." Eris thought to herself. "As
they say, I've been lucky. Although I still think something should have been done at that
time…" Then she looked around. "Great, I think I've gotten lost… This city is as big as a
nation!"
"Lady!"
Eris turned around, finding the little tiger boy standing near her panting as if he had been
following her for a long time.
"Ma'am, I…" Noah started to say until he bowed his torso in reverence. "I just wanted to
thank you for helping me, when the other girls and my brother couldn't! I… I want to be as
strong as them… so that-"
"Just stop it, will you?" Eris said, interrupting his speech. "Don't take it the wrong way. I only
did it because it was necessary. My father once taught me a proverb of his own: A hero does
what is good, but a true hero does what is right, no matter what it is. It's a good proverb,
don't you think?"
Eris winked at the tiger boy, who raised his head to stare at her.
"Come on, you better go back to your brother and your family. They will be worried."
Noah stared for a moment before nodding, turning around, and running in the opposite
direction. Eris sighed with a smile as she watched the tiger boy walk away.
"It feels good, doesn't it?"
The hellhound turned, finding Cath standing nearby.
"How did you get away from all those people, asking you questions?" Eris asked in confusion
at the sight but then shook her head. "Well, if you mean helping people, yes, it feels good,"
Eris replied. "But that's not why I did it."
"Let me talk, will you?" Cath asked Eris. "The truth is, I came to apologize and to thank you."
"Thanks?" Eris asked.
"That's right. You may not have noticed, but the boys you saved, the boy who just thanked
you, and I are of the same species," Eris said. "Actually, those two are my children."
"Your children?" Eris asked in surprise. "Then you must have had a hard time in that situation
before."
"You have no idea," Cath said. "One of the worst fears of a hero is that his loved ones will
end up caught in the crossfire with the villains. Which happens sooner or later, but you can
never prepare for it. In fact, I take it very seriously that my youngest son thanked you for it."
"Well, thank you anyway," Eris replied. "Besides, I put myself in danger against someone I
didn't know so foolishly, with only the experience I have with the problems of my world."
"Precisely," Cath said. "When I saw that you didn't think twice and took action despite the
danger you could be in against that villain, that was an eye-opener for me."
Eris looked at Cath in surprise.
"All the great heroes have started dreaming about it at a very young age. And they all say
the same thing," Cath explained. "They say that their body reacted before their mind could
reflect. No hero who has taken this profession so lightly has ever had this feeling."
Eris stared at Cath for a moment until she started walking past Cath.
"That's why I feel obliged to retract my previous answer, in light of what happened today,"
Cath said to Eris, causing her to stand behind her but not turn around, while the tiger woman
turned to her. "You too can become a hero."
Eris fell silent, staring at the horizon after hearing those words from the tiger girl's mouth.
By nightfall, Cath had brought Eris back to the BSG headquarters, where the hellhound had
to give some explanations to Nami and Catilia about the trouble she got herself into, as well
as receiving a reprimand from the rest of the members of the heroine group for what had
happened.
There, the decision was being considered whether to send Eris and the others back to their
world by any means, with Aqua's help, or to allow them to stay in Ectopia. However, to do so,
the possible effects of the remaining Demonic Energy that Eris possessed from her home
world had to be checked.
Meanwhile, Catilia was playfully training with little Noah who lived in the building, much to
Eris's surprise when she learned that both he and his older brother lived under the same
roof. She could have saved herself so much trouble if she had stayed with them since the
incident.
Suddenly Carmilla entered the living room, apparently on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
"Girls! Girls! Girls! Girls!" Carmilla exclaimed hastily, almost tripping on the ground from the
nervousness she was walking on. "He answered us!"
"Really?" Cath asked looking at Carmilla, while the rest of the BSG members looked at each
other in surprise.
Eris, Nami, Catilia, and Aqua were the only ones who didn't understand what was happening
at that moment.
The next moment they were all in the command center, in front of the computer monitor.
"What's going on?" Eris asked.
"While you were asleep, Mel ran some tests on your blood to see if there was a way to wake
you up," Alice replied. "But when she saw what was there, we contacted an old acquaintance
to talk to him about it."
"And how?" Nami asked.
"With an email," Carmilla replied. "It's like a message that you can use to communicate with
someone, even if they're on the other side of the world."
"Okay, I'll have to learn a few things if I'm going to stay here," Eris commented.
"But have you opened the mail?" Cleo asked.
"Yes, and it only has one video," Carmilla said. "Plus the subject line says: for the BSG
guest."
For a moment the girls were silent until the BSG members looked at Eris, who looked at
them awkwardly. "What? This is all new to me."
"Play the video, Carmilla," Cath said.
Carmilla nodded and started the video, which took up the entire screen.
"Here I am, in a video!" exclaimed an extremely thin and emaciated man with disheveled and
unruly blond hair with two locks of hair falling to the side of his face, blue eyes with black
sclera, wearing a blue suit with a tie that was a little too big for him.
All the BSG members were shocked to see the man in the picture.
"Look, it's Uncle Yagi!" exclaimed Noah who was also present.
"Toshinori?! What's going on?" Mel asked in surprise.
The man began to laugh in a friendly manner, despite his decrepit appearance.
"I'm sure I must have surprised you all with this message. I was actually surprised when I
received your message too. I even fell over when I read it!" The man said, blood coming out
of his mouth without warning, which surprised Eris and the others.
"Relax, there's a reason why that happens to her," Nell said to Eris.
"Yeah, whatever you say, but that's not normal at all," Eris replied.
"Well, we better get back to the topic at hand," the man said, wiping the blood from his
mouth. "I assume that if this video is playing, you are present as well, right? Eris, if the email
is correct."
Eris frowned as she watched that video.
"My name is Toshinori Yagi, or Yagi Toshinori, depending on the culture's naming. But back
in the day, everyone knew me by a different name: All Might," Toshinori said over the video.
"All Might?" Eris wondered as the video continued.
"Even though it may not seem like it, I was the greatest hero the world had ever known, until
after my last fight with my greatest enemy I had to retire from that life, but I still help other
young people to continue with that dream and become heroes in their own right," Toshinori
said, although Eris frowned at his words. "Since I suppose you won't believe me, let me
show you a recording of one of my exploits. And I hope it looks good, it's the tenth time I've
tried to paste said video into this one."
The BSG girls sighed after hearing the man's comment. Then the video image changed to a
very different one.
Now the video showed what looked like the site of a major disaster with a lot of damage, with
desperate people watching what was happening and constantly calling for help. It was a
situation no one would want to be in.
"Hey, I know that video!" Noah exclaimed.
"Did you see that?" asked a man in the image with a look of disbelief. "He's already saved a
hundred people! And he only got here ten minutes ago! It's crazy! I can't believe it!"
The video continued to move through the disaster area until it saw a figure climbing a huge
overturned vehicle with several people on his back and in his arms.
"Look, it's him!" Noah exclaimed, catching Eris' attention as she looked at that figure.
This figure was a colossal man with blond hair and two locks rising in front in the shape of a
beak, dressed in a blue, red, and white suit with yellow boots that covered his entire body
except for his head and hands, with two large yellow wristbands.
The man was laughing heartily as he carried those people around like it was nothing, smiling
non-stop.
"And he laughs too!" exclaimed the man who was watching everything.
"Don't worry! Do you know why?" the man asked in a voice that reminded him of the decrepit
man from before.
Although there was something in that phrase that sounded familiar.
The huge man smiled wider. "Because I'm here!"
Noah was excited to hear her say that phrase as he watched the video, but for Eris… that
phrase made her remember something in her past while she was traveling with her father.
"Hey, Dad!" Eris heard his young voice in her mind, remembering her past with her father.
"What's it, Eris?" her father asked while sitting on a rock.
"About that hero you talked about the other day. Was there anything special about him?"
"Was there anything special? Everything about him was special!" his father exclaimed. "As I
told you, that man aimed to be the symbol of peace for his people, no matter what."
"And was there anything else that set him apart from the others?" Little Eris asked.
"Well, yes. The man was a bit dramatic at times, and he couldn't stop laughing even if the
situation seemed serious," the man explained. "And he had a line that he always said
whenever he acted."
"A sentence?"
"Yes, that's more or less what it says," said his father as he stood up. "You don't have to
worry! Why? Because I'm here!" he exclaimed, raising a finger to the sky in an imposing
manner.
In the present, Eris recalled one of her father's stories, starting to see some things clearly.
Her father was, in a way, talking about the man who was appearing in that video. The man
her father saw as the greatest hero he had ever known: All Might.
Then that video ended, and the decrepit man reappeared.
"Well, I hope that with this video some doubts have been resolved, young Eris," Toshinori
said. "Now let's get back to the main topic, the reason for this video. The only reason I'm
trying to contact you is because in your blood you possess what we call a gift, a superpower
that most people nowadays possess. And it is what allows heroes to exist."
Toshinori continued to explain himself in the video. "The problem here is that you possess a
gift that is virtually impossible for you to possess. I know this because I am the former bearer
of said gift, and I recently bestowed it on someone else. It is impossible for you to possess
that gift, but here you are."
"I know this may seem strange, even unusual, but I want to ask you a favor," the man said.
"If you are receiving this message, I ask you to come to Japan, to the UA Academy."
"How?!" Cath asked, surprised at that request.
"Hero Academy?!" Noah exclaimed upon hearing that.
"I know I can't force you to come all this way. But if you come, I can explain everything you
need to know about that Quirk." Toshinori then extended his hand invitingly. "Please come to
the Hero Academy, and allow me to help you."
Eris stood there watching the video after hearing the request from the man who was once
her father's most admired hero, with dozens of things running through her head and unable
to articulate a word at the surprise. It's clear that she had never expected something like this
in her life. Even Nami and Catilia were surprised at what had just happened.
"Do you think the video was good or should we do it again?" Toshinori asked someone
off-camera just as the camera stopped.
A deep silence covered the entire room where they were. No one was able to speak after
what had happened and with the surprises that had occurred.
Finally, Cath was the first to speak, addressing Eris. "Well, if you really want to be a hero,
you should start by accepting his proposal."
"Really?" Eris asked. "Do you really expect me to accept a proposal from someone I just met
to tell me about a power I knew nothing about?"
"Well, Eris. From the looks of it and from what you told us, he seems to be the man your
father admired." Nami said.
"Besides, if it really is a hero academy, maybe you can learn a thing or two there that might
be useful to you if you stick with the idea of being a heroine," Catilia said.
"Both points are valid, actually," Eris said, crossing her arms. "Even if that guy is nothing
more than a decrepit weirdo."
"I don't want to be a prophet of doom, but there is a problem," Aqua, who was also in the
room, interrupted. "Isn't anyone supposed to leave this island, as you explained to me
before?"
"Look, that's true," Nell said.
"But there is a way out of here, though we'll have to travel a bit to get to the outside world,"
Cath said, looking at Eris. "Only if you're willing."
"If you're going, I'll go too! I want to show Toshinori what I developed for him!" Mel exclaimed
energetically.
"If he leaves, we'll be more relaxed around here, really," Nell said, crossing her arms.
"I want to go too," Tya said. "I've never been to Japan, so this would be a good opportunity."
"Won't you need a ghost on your trip?" Alice asked, causing Eris to roll her eyes in
annoyance.
"But it all depends on whether Eris decides to go," Nami said.
Then everyone turned their gaze to Eris, who felt a little nervous.
Finally, Eris shrugged. "Okay, fine, I'll go. But I won't be held responsible if this all goes
wrong."
"In any case, I'll go too," Aqua said. "Even if I don't like it, you're here because of me, so
you're my responsibility."
"Okay, but be careful. I can do more than just bite," Eris warned with a lewd smile.
"I'm already aware of the eccentricities of your world, so thanks for the heads up," Aqua said,
putting a hand out in front of her.
"Well, it's settled!" Cath exclaimed. "Tomorrow morning we'll be leaving for Japan."
"Wait. So soon?" Eris asked confused.
