Okay, so, some interest in Kismet. That's good to know, but keep in mind, I'm only three chapters into it. I need to work on it and Wizard's Angel more before I decide whether they have enough legs to warrant publishing. Fuse and TNT will be published soon, though. I need to rework the opening of the current chapter before continuing with it.

KISMET

CHAPTER 2:

NOT-SO-IMAGINARY FRIENDS

In a way, Maya was glad the Order of the Impending Storm emphasized a life of austerity and asceticism (though in light of what she had learned, she made a vow to investigate the other monks, especially those with the strongest ties to Sophis). It meant she had few possessions to pack away, though her large library was one of the things she'd probably have to leave behind. Even with whatever SDUs she could buy, her storage deck could only hold so many, and sad though she was to admit it, she'd need it for weapons on Pandora if even half the stories were true. She had a Maliwan pistol and an SMG by the same company, but that was it. She'd need more if she was heading to Pandora.

Of course, then Harry showed off that impossible trunk with the TARDIS-like interior and changeable exterior size, and said he could bring her books in it. He'd said that his friend Hermione would do the same thing, and in fact, she had. Seriously, it had close to a mansion on the inside, and it was there that, at his invitation, she slept, just in case Sophis' cronies tried attacking her in the night. Sure enough, come the morning, there were three of them hanging from the ceiling like piñatas, courtesy of traps Harry left behind.

She felt ambivalent about that whole mess. True, Sophis had this nasty habit of calling her child and being patronising. But he seemed to care for her, nurturing her mind and intellect. He was a seemingly genuine father figure, 'seemingly' being the operative term, and as much as he kept her captive here, she had a lot of fond memories of him, now tainted by the truth. But now, all those times she was kept from being too curious about her own nature as a Siren, stopped from reading about Pandora, they made way too much sense. He wasn't killing off her curiosity, but he was pruning it like a bonsai.

One thing she was curious about, though, was Harry. Since she was young, he had appeared to her in her dreams. An imaginary friend, she had thought him. A boy who had a prison of his own, and who, eventually, had adventures like something out of a series of kid's books. A boy who prevailed, and survived to become a man. He helped keep her happy when she needed distraction from her restlessness and anger, but she had never thought of him as more than an imaginary construct of her mind, a tulpa at best.

And yet, here he was. If he was a tulpa, a living thought given form, then he was a pretty sophisticated one, and to tell the truth, she doubted it. After all, no tulpa would have such an interesting library filled with books she had heard of, but never read. No tulpa would stare at an ECHO device and struggle to understand it, wondering why it wasn't as slim as an iPhone. And no tulpa would be capable of tearing a man's mind apart and leaving him a drooling imbecile, as far as she knew.

When she heard of Sophis' plans from Harry, taken from the bastard's mind, Maya felt sick. While some of the Order did genuinely wish to train Maya as a protector of the Order and the people of Athenas, others wanted to exploit her. Sophis had even wanted to fuck her. There was a time when she had a bit of a precocious crush on him, but that, in hindsight, made her want to vomit more than that one time she tried a bottle of Holy Spirits…and was told by Brother Mendel that pickled Ratch livers were a key ingredient. Truth be told, she held a lot more affection for Harry, but that itself confused her, as, until now, she had thought him imaginary.

And then, he just fell right into her life, just as it had taken what was going to be a turning point. She doubtless would have Phaselocked Sophis herself and killed him, but frankly, disturbing though his fate was, she couldn't help but feel he deserved it. She had a lot to discuss with Harry, and she had put off a lot of it yesterday.

But she needed to talk to him. Not just about their relationship and where they stood with each other (they were definitely friends, though anything further was something they'd have to work out), but where Maya intended to go. They may be friends, but she wasn't sure she could ask anyone in good conscience to come with her to where she intended to go.

Harry emerged from the trunk, having shrunk her bookshelves and brought them inside. "They're all set up and ready for you, Maya."

"Thank you, Harry. But…we need to talk."

"…About what?"

"When we spoke last night, you told me of why you came here, or rather, how. I have asked Brother Harker to see if anyone matching the description of your friends or your godfather are around, but nobody has turned up. If this Sirius Black was here on Athenas, it's more than likely they would have found him long ago. And…this portal, this Veil you went through…did it have a symbol like this?" She handed him one of her books on Eridian culture, what little there was known of it, which had a symbol on the cover, with a wedge pointing upwards within a circle.

Harry nodded. "Yes…I think it did on one part of it."

"Then it's possible your friends are elsewhere. And where I intend to go…they may not be. I can't ask you to accompany me without knowing your friends are safe, but I do intend to leave, and I would appreciate it if you accompanied me. Something drew you to me, but I would rather it not be at the expense of your friends. Even if we met in dreams, we have only just met in reality. I don't know how much investment you have in what I want."

Harry looked at her, considering her words, before saying, "Just answer me this, Maya. Where you are going…is there at all a possibility they might be there?"

"…Yes. A small possibility, but I can only think of three planets in the galaxy where they'd have this high a chance of being: this planet, the planet I intend to go, and one that is supposedly lost. If they were here, the Order would have found them by now, particularly Sirius Black, as he's been missing from your world for ten years now. And Nekrotafeyo…well, the last known person to search for that world was Typhon DeLeon and his then-wife Leda Calypso."

Harry looked at her blankly. "Who?"

"What, you didn't get that from Sophis' mind?"

"I got mostly what he was doing to this planet and to you," Harry said. "I mean, I know it's the 31st Century, we're a long way from Earth, and…well, that's it."

Maya sighed gently to herself, and indicated that he take a seat next to her on her couch. Spartan though her quarters were, she managed to get a nice lounge for her to entertain visitors and even just lie down on. And she didn't mind having him sit next to her. "So, story time," she said.

"…You're very like Hermione when you look like that, aren't you?"

Maya chuckled. "I'd love to meet her and find out. Anyway…you know what I am, a Siren, one of six human women with paranormal abilities, more specialised than your magic, but potentially more powerful. And did I bring up the Eridians before?"

"I think so. They were an ancient alien empire that died out millennia ago or something."

"Right. So, some decades ago, a would-be adventurer called Typhon DeLeon, the one I mentioned, stumbled across something the Eridians left behind on Promethea, a cache of weapons and technology they called a Vault. Atlas Corporation, which ran Promethea at the time, used that Vault to grow rich and powerful. However, fearful of the Vault's contents falling into the wrong hands, they sent a portion of the artifact used to open it here. That being said, they also nosed around, looking for a Vault, and aroused the wrath of Queen Dido, a Siren who ruled Athenas before the Order took over. Atlas was expelled, as was DeLeon, though rumours persisted that they had a tryst."

"…Okay. But…what does this have to do with where you want to go, and where my friends might be?"

"I'm getting to that. Under a decade ago, rumours started spreading of another Vault, on a world called Pandora. It's…not a good world. The Dahl Corporation colonised it, intending to mine for Eridium and other substances, but…they didn't get much. When the rumours of a Vault started spreading, Dahl was bullied into pulling out of Pandora by Atlas, who thought they had a claim to every Vault. Dahl left behind their colonists…and the convicts they used as miners. Even without them, Pandora's a shithole of a world, mostly desert, with some tundra and jungle thrown in for good measure, and with creatures infamous for their lethality."

"Sounds charming."

"I know. I wouldn't go there normally, but…well, the details are still sketchy. What is known for sure is that a group of Vault Hunters raced against Atlas' soldiers to open the Vault about five years ago. Atlas beat them there, but a good chunk of their forces were wiped out by a monster that emerged, and the Vault Hunters stopped it."

"Vault Hunters?"

"Adventurers who seek to follow in Typhon DeLeon's footsteps," Maya said. "Had dreams of becoming one myself, actually. But back to the story. Atlas tried again to reoccupy Pandora, but they were beaten back again, and they've pretty much collapsed. However, now, there's another corporation looking to take over, Hyperion. They've been around for ages, but under their current president…well, I heard rumours that Handsome Jack is a full-blown psychopath and would-be dictator."

Harry stared at her incredulously. "…What kind of name is Handsome Jack?"

Maya chuckled. "I know, right? For some weird reason, he wears a mask over his face, one of his own face. In interviews, he says he was scarred by a would-be assassin during the Zarpedon crisis on Elpis, Pandora's moon, but he would never elaborate. That was about four years ago. Now, I know what you're thinking: why the hell would I want to go to Pandora, when it's a bad place being made worse by some greedy corporate conglomerate?"

"…I think I remember you bringing this up once, when we were meeting in your dreams," Harry said, in sudden realisation. "You said something about how some archaeologist posited a link between Sirens and the Eridians…and the Vaults."

"Yes, Doctor Patricia Tannis, actually. But more than that. A Siren known as Nyriad wrote a number of inscriptions on this planet, inscriptions that have only been partially translated from the Eridian script. Sirens and the Eridians have a link. And there's apparently multiple Vaults on Pandora. Not only that, but there is, or was, a Siren on Pandora. Dr Lilith Cashlin, a mercenary scientist. And…in a way, Pandora calls to me. It has for some time now, ever since I've read Dr Tannis' papers. Sophis wouldn't let me leave to find out."

"And my friends might be there, because…?"

"Because there's more Eridian ruins on Pandora than most other worlds that have any Eridian artifacts on them in the borderlands of the galaxy," Maya said. "Nekrotafeyo, the lost Eridian homeworld, is the only other place with as many if not more that I know of. It's possible they are there, or at least the likelihood is greater. Again, I can't guarantee it, and it's possible they've ended up elsewhere. I'm really clutching at straws when it comes to your friends. I intend to head to Pandora no matter what. I didn't intend for anyone to come with me, and I can't ask for you to come with me into what will be a dangerous environment."

Harry looked at her for a time, before shaking his head. Maya felt her heart sink at the confirmation that he wouldn't be coming, and was surprised at her disappointment. She wasn't sure she felt much for, well, anyone, and yet, she felt rather disappointed at his refusal to come.

But then, she was surprised when he spoke. "Maya…it's fine. If there's a chance they're on Pandora, then I'll take it. I tried my communications mirror last night, and, well, it must not be able to work over light years. Or maybe it's broken. Besides…I wanted excitement and adventure again. At least this time, it's on my own terms. Plus, I'm sure Hermione would want to meet you. You'd have a lot to talk about. Besides…while I'm sure you can handle yourself on Pandora, it wouldn't hurt to have someone else by your side, right?"

Maya couldn't help the smile touching her lips, a warm one rather than the sardonic smirk she had lately. "I guess not," she said. "Thanks, Harry."

"You're welcome, Maya," he said, returning that smile.

"Right, so…I think we'll leave in a couple of days. That's enough time, hopefully, to confirm your friends aren't here, as well as get you trained up in using guns. I know you have your magic, but frankly, if they'd vivisect me for being a Siren, I'm sure they'd do the same to you for your magic. They don't have much in the way of guns here, just a few Marcus' Munitions machines. And they let me practise on the Ratches infesting the Holy Spirits brewery."

"…Ratches?"

"Alien pest, like the mutant offspring of a rat, an armadillo, and a cockroach," Maya said. "Weak, but still dangerous at times. Actually, Brother Mendel called me up, wanted me to kill off one last infestation. I'll buy you a gun or two, and we can have a good time clearing those freaks out. I'm not one for animal cruelty normally, but killing Ratches is pretty fun. C'mon, I'll bring you to the nearest Marcus' Munitions machine, and help you pick some out…"

CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:

So, a chapter from Maya's POV. And it's about here that I should address something. Namely, Maya being claimed to be asexual. While there's evidence in the games to support that, there's no evidence in the games for her being not asexual either. In other words, while we have Word of God saying that she's asexual, it doesn't necessarily mean she can't be interested in someone sexually. In fact, there's in-canon hints (specifically in the fourth Headhunter DLC, when Moxxi asks the Vault Hunter you're playing as whether they have a loved one) that she may have either had a crush on Sophis before their relationship soured, or they were actually in a physical relationship.

It's also worth pointing out that, because of her soulbond with Harry, Maya is actually interested in him sexually, though it comes with the full package. Will they become lovers soon? Yes, and as they are already friends with each other, they're willing to bed each other once they work out their respective issues over banging someone they thought was an imaginary friend. Will they be doing it upon meeting? Fuck the hell no. Harry's too chivalrous for that, and Maya's interest in sex is more out of curiosity. Maybe she gets a rush out of using Siren powers: Lilith canonically does once she starts using Eridium to boost her powers.

Harry and Maya will be getting to know each other a bit more, at least in person, prior to that. They're already good friends, even if they need to work through some baggage, and there's the issue of Hermione, Luna and Sirius. However, at the risk of spoiling things, Harry ended up on Athenas rather than the original destination of the Veil because of his soulbond to Maya. The others ended up in the same place…but not Pandora. Where did they end up? Well, let's just say that Sirius has managed to derail the plot of the third game. I won't say anything more because, you know, spoilers.

No numbered annotations this time.