A/N: 10k works. Not too satisfied with this chapter, but we ball. Once more, grammar check me because I am posting this hella late and only skimmed through the paragraphs. Thank you. :)
"Soooo~! Boooring~!"
Skadi turned to the side and watched Laurentina kick her feet upwards while sitting in her dorm's desk. The orca lady found her expression shifting into one of worry, because the woman in front of her was very likely to shift to one of her episodes at any moment. It didn't help that she found her room to be boring, which Skadi couldn't fully deny.
"What's wrong?" Skadi deactivated and placed down her tablet while moving to sit on a chair not too far away from Laurentina. "You know my room is not fit for your tastes." The same was when they were back in the underwater cities of Aegir. It went as followed; Laurentina—under the permission of Gladiia—would visit her room and make fun of her decoration tastes.
Though she would never admit it, Skadi had to call for Ulpianus to kick the shark lady out and ban her from entering her room. Laurentina didn't know and most likely assumed that he had done so because of her frequent visits, so she was none the wiser. Thankfully.
The voracious shark would never let her live that down, like how she was not letting the orca live down her tastes in decor.
"Good to know that you remember that," Laurentina chirped. "Doesn't mean I can't keep stabbing you over it, don't you think?" A toothy grin was given after, straight to the point without any loops taken.
"...Now I'm wondering what you have done all the time before reaching Rhodes Island," Skadi sighed. Although she had recounted a few stories Shark had told her, the span of two years still did not encompass all she had experienced. The psychotic ailment she had didn't help at all, either.
"Nothing much... just traveling around with a bitchy Princess," Laurentina spat.
"...Your captain wouldn't have approved that sort of language."
"Whatever." An indignant huff left her lips. "Just needed to get that little weight off my chest. It's always those who break your heart that keep coming back in your mind. Hmph." Her arms crossed while Laurentina turned her head back to lean it against the backrest of the chair. "Still no heating function for these chairs after two years? Disappointing."
Skadi had to wonder if Laurentina had been dumped by some ex-boyfriend—or ex-girlfriend based on the Princess nickname—but that didn't match her in the slightest. The Shark was more prone to play around than actually commit to anything such as that, Abyssal Hunter duties and all. Or maybe it was just an aspect of her that persisted.
"You're not thinking negatively of me, are you?" Laurentina turned her head toward Skadi with narrowed eyes.
"No," Skadi denied. "I was thinking how you would have already been in the training room by now." Speaking of the training room, Laurentina had already reached such breakneck speeds that the Abyssal Hunter had been kicked out from training in any institutions that Rhodes Island could provide.
If she wanted to test anything, she would have to do it outside. Do it outside she did, with Shark running laps around Rhodes Island with such ease that it had left the Operators inside of the landship quaking with fear whenever a sonic boom had been heard. Maybe Swordfish would be proud if she were present.
"So? I get a bunch of people pissing their pants whenever I have a little fun outside?" Laurentina chuckled. "Keep them that way, it's funny to watch them scurry away in shock whenever I give them a wave in the hallways." She stood up from her chair and headed toward Skadi.
Skadi tilted her head in confusion, while Laurentina came closer to her.
"Oh come on, you're no different. Everybody's been babbling on the Walking Catastrophe whenever you're brought up~! It's ALMOST like they've never seen Abyssal Hunters before."
The sarcasm was not lost on Skadi. "Obviously." She felt the other woman plop beside her on the bed.
"I would have expected something better, but I guess my standards are just a tad bit too high." Laurentina let out a disappointed sigh.
"Mhm."
"Oh, and I forgot to say," Laurentina continued, setting her head on the other woman's lap.
Skadi could feel the air around her start to change abruptly, causing her body to slightly tense. Keeping her composure, the Abyssal Hunter stared down at her fellow, thinning her lips as she saw the swirls in the shark lady's eyes start to become present—a signifier that Laurentina had shifted to what the medical department had dubbed as her "Specter" persona.
"If—by some off-chance—we discover our little dastardly star somewhere..." Specter's voice drew out at the last bit while she reached her hands up to grasp Skadi's face. "Help me break his legs, won't you? It would be nice to hear his screams again."
...Skadi had decided it was time for her to take her medications again.
Nearl raised her shield up as a harsh blow came to it, rattling the metallic object and sending a pulse all across the training room. A brief echo made itself known to existence before it faded away, left to linger as nothing but a note of an exchange between weapons. One made in the art of defense, and the other in the brashness of offense.
"You certainly hold no qualms," the Pegasus said while moving her shield briefly to the side, gauging the Ursus child in front of her. "Mayhaps this is why you sought to become an Operator?" It still perturbed her to know that somebody of that age desired to tread across the battlefield—along with a few others—but with how adamant the request was...
"What?" Operator "Zima," who was once known as Sonya called out. Her axe rested on her shoulder as she placed a hand on her hip. "Got a problem with that? My previous instructor was less of a defensive player than you."
"Previous instructor?" Now that had caught Nearl's attention. "You've had a previous instructor before this?" Was it back in the dreaded city of Chernobog that had been reduced to waste at this point, gorged upon by the unending rain of Catastrophe and flames, or was it before they had arrived at Rhodes Island as refugees?
"A real stick-in-the-mud he is, funny guy too." Zima scoffed. "Always running his mouth about youth and stuff, keeping us away from anything that he does. But..." Her voice drew out at the last moment, as if the last words were stuck in a time she hadn't ticked the hands of the clock to move from.
"But...?" Nearl raised an eyebrow.
"Eh, what the hell?" The Ursus girl never let the words escape her mouth, and instead kept it caged. "What am I even spouting all of this nonsense for? We're in a spar!" She yelled afterwards, brandishing her weapon and charging the Pegasus in front of her with no quarters bound.
"Your attitude could do some work." Nearl found herself once more flabbergasted at the behavior of the girl in front of her. "Because—" She lifted her shield once more and blocked a million ton blow from Zima "—I fear what it would do in an actual operation, if you understand what I'm attempting to say."
The both of them were stuck in a deadlock against each other, with Zima being at a severe disadvantage against Nearl. A few more pushes and grunts were given from the Ursus girl attempting to break through the guard through brute strength, before she had decided it proved to be a fruitless withered tree.
"I contemplate how your previous instructor handled you." A single push from Nearl brought Zima away from her, before the little girl spun in a roundabout way for a preemptive strike. "With such a rough attitude, he must have taught you some manners to lessen them."
"Nope!" Zima slammed her axe against the shield that had guarded her. Although small gashes were being made on the shield, it still proved to be irritating with how utterly useless her maneuvers were proving to be. If it were that black-haired stone-faced man, he would have already broken through this woman's defense a thousand times. "As aggressive as he was in spars..." she gritted out, "he's as stupidly aloof as a brick wall!"
Nearl took a step back and pivoted to the side, letting the weight of Zima disperse and slam against the ground. The Pegasus had to wonder if the large gash appearing on the ground was normal for a child of that age, or if it came from an application of Arts—which she hadn't even felt activate in the brief timespan of the events.
"Goodness." Although she didn't gape in any way that showed surprise, the mere tone of her voice was already enough of a dead giveaway. The aggressive sordidness of the blow was now engraved in her mind. "Your previous instructor had to deal with this?"
"Tch!" Zima lifted her axe again, readying it into a stance. "Dealt with it like a champ, I'd say! Keeping up that uncaring attitude of his, teaching me new stuff and all, I think he's one of those prodigal geniuses or something those old-wrinkled teachers would babble on about."
Nearl took note just how much the angry Ursus girl in front of her was babbling on now. Perhaps it was the spark of passion from a heated battle that had incurred such a fiery attitude, but those were the only small postulations she could make a small grasp at her personality.
"A prodigal genius," she noted. "Then I take it you must have found him to be an excellent instructor?" Nearl parried a barrage of blows, taking in account just how bizarrely the weapon in the Ursus girl's hands operated. It was like a melee weapon made to be an Arts Unit with the excessive strength stored inside of it, and the ranged capabilities present inside of such an object.
"Of course! Maybe even..." Zima breathed in and let her eyes widen, putting in as much strength as she could in a blow "...Better than you!" Another heavy slam was executed as Nearl's shield further attained more slash marks aligning it.
For once, the attack had made the Pegasus raise a slight brow from the technique employed. It wasn't the usual abrasive strikes which held no regard for anything else, but a calculated one made to throw off the blonde-haired opponent the Ursus girl was up against. Maybe the tactic was a kind of ace in the hole.
"Ugh!" Zima was pushed off as she skidded across the ground, but kept herself nimble and active in order to create more distance. "It's like hitting a metal wall, damn." She balanced the tactical axe in her hands as she glared at Nearl. The weapon could casually chop down trees with the swing done, but against the woman in front of her, just a skillfully crafted weapon wasn't enough, now was it.
"That was an advanced technique you used." Nearl glanced at her shield again, seeing the damage accumulating as the fight went on. At this point, she was beginning to believe that she would have to abandon the battered scarecrow if she didn't want it to fail her in her next operation. "Learned it from your instructor?"
"Clearly." Zima narrowed her eyes.
"I'm curious now, is there a chance I could meet him?" Nearl internally prayed that he hadn't been a lost life in the rubble of Chernobog, because it would be disastrous if that were the case. Thankfully for her, Zima merely gave her a huff before replying.
"That old fart would probably be averse to any social interaction, good luck with that."
...From the girl's choice of words, it seems their instructor must be a rather old man. Still, she had to wonder why they were on the landship in the first place if they had an instructor outside, and he seemed to be in a healthy state if the girl in front of her—part of the newly formed U.S.S.G.—had spoken as if he were still alive.
Well, it was about time to conclude the assessment spar, and hopefully inquire for more answers.
Just looking down at the scenery was enough for Megumi to know what had occurred. It made him sick to the stomach, forcing the bile created from the breakfast he had disgusted not too long ago to attempt to resurface, and spill itself all over the ground in front of him. Neither the rancid scent wafting in front of his nose to tickle it or the dry blood streaking across the streets were contributing to the sickness, but the mere thought and images flashing through his mind of what could have happened were the main bother.
'Reunion.'
A thought of scorn crossed his mind as he hid his back against one of the taller buildings in order to keep his vantage point secured. His gaze shifted downwards and analyzed every single potential enemy he could sense from his position. They all held weapons that he was familiar with in some way or another, instruments of war ready to cleave away lives as casually as a kitchen knife to a juicy piece of meat.
He could see many sites for piled bodies—most likely of refugees or corpses that once littered the street—gathered elsewhere. There were also many Reunion members digging holes in order to throw them in, and he could see that they all varied from children to the elderly. Of course, he remembered such an occurrence back in the Northern Tundras of Ursus, and he found it utterly ironic that something not too dissimilar was happening right before his eyes.
Disgusting.
Revolting.
His grip tightened while he drew his eyes elsewhere. He couldn't sense Talulah's location, because he never was the type to be a Jujutsu Sorcerer who held sensory abilities. There was also the fact the Draco didn't possess Cursed Energy in the first place, so any Jujutsu Sorcerer with specialized sensory capabilities wouldn't even be able to detect her.
Another choice came to Fushiguro Megumi.
It was a risky idea, but the black-haired man had decided to find a group of Reunion members, stalk them from the shadows, and search for Talulah's general location through potential rumors that could spark between their conversations. That, or he could attempt to find any leads that could bring him to her general location.
With those thoughts in mind, he found his body spurred onto its next course of action.
Amiya darted into an alleyway when a crossbow bolt nearly tore through her body. Hastily, she glanced out from the side and gauged what enemies were present. In her intercoms, the Doctor spoke to her and the team located with them, commands which were thoroughly articulated in order to make the most of their current situation.
"The drones connected to PRTS are detecting enemies flanking you from the other side of the alleyway, Amiya. Franka, I want you to go assist her, while Liskarm, you... stay close to the team, and provide cover from the perimeter. We'll focus on reaching Superintendent Ch'en when we've regrouped together and recover Misha from Reunion's current surprise attack."
The Cautus didn't need to glance to the other side of the alleyway, because the commands of the Doctor would be heard. In a heartbeat, stomping footsteps were silenced just as they had appeared with the light thump of something falling. It was the thermite blade of Franka, and she already knew such would have already occurred. For now, she would focus on her location, and take a discreet peek through the corner.
Enemies, about six of them paired into a group, were converging on her position. Her hand extended by her side in preparation for Arts in order to repel them, while she motioned for Franka to come closer to her in case she needed an assist. She didn't know the whereabouts of Liskarm at the moment, but it was very likely she was coming back to their location as per the Doctor's orders.
"Whew, we've got more," Franka said from behind Amiya, the Vulpo flicking her blade and kneeling down in a ready-to-strike position. "How many of them can you count? Doctor? Amiya?"
"Six," Amiya replied. "I'll use my Arts in order to disable and disorient some of them, and then you can go in, Ms. Franka."
"That won't be the most effective plan." The Doctor's voice chimed in, alerting the two. "Franka, can you attack the enemies while Amiya assists you from the back in tandem with one another rather than striking one at a time? So they don't breach our line of defense."
"Of course. Sounds perfectly in tune with me," Franka answered without a hitch. "I'll also protect our little bunny here, so there's no need to be worried." If the time was ripe, she would have definitely patted the Cautus in front of her, but alas, the situation did not call for it at the moment.
"Excellent," the Doctor said.
"Thank you, Ms. Franka." Amiya gave a grateful nod as she matched the Vulpo spring out of the alleyway with grace. She knew it served the purpose of surprising the approaching Reunion members, and would provide enough for a distraction for herself to leap out. "I'll make use of the opening!"
From behind Franka, three blasts of black Arts lined with red adhering to a form relating to lightning sprung out. Their arc had reached the enemies in an instant, crashing into their bodies and leaving them floundering on the ground after a vicious shockwave had passed through their body. As they attempted to recover, Franka had already taken the opportunity to charge them.
There were six of them in total, so three had been able to avoid Amiya's Arts. The three afflicted by the baleful wave were crossbowmen, while the rest who remained were swordsmen. It didn't matter to Franka, because all she had to do was execute a swift leap through the air and twirl upside down in mid-motion of the action.
Her thermite blade tore the guarded weapons of the aggressors, breaking through their lackadaisical defenses with ease. With the burst of speed she had granted herself, she finished her course and landed far behind them with a soft tap of her foot. With her posture straightened not long after, she saw another symphony of Arts casted from Amiya, finishing the job for her and dealing the final blow to the sliced Reunion members.
"Nice cue!" Franka flicked her blade and stopped her momentum.
Another three bodies flew through the air. "Whoops!" Making the Vulpo duck down in order to avoid their barrelling bodies. The crossbowmen who had first taken Amiya's Arts had only lost consciousness, and the procedure for the Operators of the mission was to capture enemies which could no longer fight—either for themself or the L.G.D. to interrogate. So, she briskly finished the task, and moved on to Amiya.
"So, any news on Liskarm's side!" Franka questioned while running through the street. "I already called for support to deal with those folks in the back, no need to worry about them." Her steps came to a screeching halt when arriving in front of the Cautus.
"That's good to hear, and on Ms. Liskarm's side..." Amiya was about to reply, but the Doctor was already ahead of her.
"She's finished with business on her side. We need to regroup with Superintendent Ch'en—"
Amiya and Franka immediately felt their ears spring upwards while the voice of the Doctor was cut off due to a loud explosion resounding elsewhere. Their gazes flashed toward the location as they booked it to cover, feeling the structure of a building shatter and start to fall at where their position was.
"Explosions!" Amiya yelled. "We have another enemy!"
"Oh, and this one seems more out of the ordinary than the rest," Franka kept note while more explosions came off. "They aren't stopping, either!"
"My drones are picking up—It's a Reunion commander! Then, why are they going so far to... Ah, I think I've figured it out."
Amiya was behind an alleyway as the explosions kept ringing out. She knew who this person was, they had enough intel to. "You've discovered what they're attempting to do, Doctor?" The Cautus kept in comms with the Doctor while Franka paid half her attention to it in favor of attempting to detect where the enemy was.
"Very likely this commander has been sent to serve as a distraction while another one heads straight to Misha. Be careful."
"Hm!" Amiya nodded while grasping a fist closer to her chest.
Franka spoke up not too long after, "This guy... he keeps firing off what looks to be a... grenade launcher. Sheesh, is Liskarm gonna arrive in our position soon? We're going to be smoked out at this rate."
"You don't need to worry, she's already converging on your position. This commander is known as Skullshatterer. You already know what weapon he uses, so be careful. Attempt to get in range of him, because he has a rather... frail body."
Amiya and Franka nodded, sealing their lips shut as the last rounds of explosions had rung off with the sounds of a grenade launcher firing them. A realization had overcome them that they had been cornered by Reunion, leaving Misha in critical danger along with their lives.
Footsteps were heard closeby, causing the both of them to spring into action because they were on edge.
"Calm down!"
Thankfully, it was Liskarm.
A sigh of relief escaped Amiya's lips, as Franka had nearly entered her teasing mode—but refrained from doing so.
"Alright, since everybody is together..." The Doctor's voice entered all of their comms at that moment. "I have a plan."
A corpse of an Ursus patrolman fell down as Megumi massaged his wrist. It felt sore from the constant training he had done in the past few weeks, and along with having to deal with the Ursus military's obsession with "order" was becoming more tiring as the day passed. Even then he had Reverse Cursed Technique to thank for getting him through the tough times.
Not even glancing behind him as a shout was heard, the black-haired man decided that his current sight was much better. A soldier was charging him from behind, weapon in hand and most likely going for a downwards strike, struck by the fervor to avenge his fallen brothers. It never came, because a searing heat had passed from behind Megumi, completely enveloping the soldier's body.
He could tell, because the tundra doesn't just become lit up with orange on a Tuesday. Unless, of course, Talulah was nearby.
"Thanks for the help. You did great," Megumi thanked. He glanced behind himself and saw Draco dressed in her usual military outfit, and wondered when she would replace it. 'Maybe it holds sentimental value.'
"You're not going to ask for another spar, are you?" Talulah suddenly said, flicking her blade and assessing the situation around her.
"...No? Where did that come from?" His index finger twitched.
"I'm sure we both know why," she said after sheathing her blade. "On three separate occasions you've asked for one before. One time, you were clearly not subtle with your intentions."
"I have no recollection. What are you talking about?" Megumi walked across the snow, and across the bodies to find a place to sit down. A boulder, perfect. "I wouldn't be that obsessed over asking for constant spars." He kept his eyes away from her.
"If you told me you had short-term amnesia, then I wouldn't be surprised. Ah, maybe I should inquire with Laurentina." A small tick appeared in her mouth when she closed her eyes.
The black-haired man was just one step away from commenting on how the woman would sometimes leave off to somewhere in the woods filled with black bark, but closed his mouth. It wouldn't do him any good to bring it up.
"So?" Megumi said. "I doubt she would tell you anything useful."
"Are you sure?" Talulah tilted her head with a neutral expression. "She did tell me you like clinging onto her when you both sleep. Like a sea urchin."
"I—what?" The black-haired man whirred his head toward her. "Excuse me?" His calm and uncaring exterior had almost defrosted completely. It was at that moment he saw an amused expression from the dragon lady in front of him.
"We've talked with each other for nearly a month now, is that so surprising? I'm sure she's told the story to every single member of Reunion at this point."
Every. Single. Member? How did he not know this? How did he not know he'd cling to Laurentina while sleeping? Shit, that was embarrassing.
"You look perturbed, was I right?" Talulah took a moment to glance toward the general location of Reunion's settlement. "I'll take your silence as a yes, then."
"Hm," Megumi let out a grunt. "I won't confirm or deny your statement."
Talulah found her head victoriously turning to the side, a faint twitch of her lip's corner being felt. "It's about time to head back, we've done what we needed here." The Draco turned back toward him and motioned for him to come along with her. There was not much else that needed to be said, she won the argument. "The rest are most likely waiting for us. Patriot will return after his venture to the mines, where an Ursus outpost had been stationed."
"He can handle it alone, right?" The black-haired man stood back up and dusted himself off, letting the small flakes of snow leave his black haori. "I wouldn't put it behind him and his Shielguards."
"Is that surprising?" Talulah asked, taking her first steps to returning back to their—correction, her—home.
"No, of course not," he curtly replied. "It's Patriot." A vivid image of the grizzly Wendigo standing in front of a demolished structure flashed through his eyes, with Ursus soldiers retreating between burning heaps of debris. All that had occurred with a single heave of his alloyed halberd.
A picture-perfect throw with immaculate posture, bearing enough might to rumble the earth and shake the heavens with a single roll. There were rumors of the Sarkaz race being some of the most resilient folks on Terra, and Megumi could see exactly why. For a legend such as the Wendigo traversing the North of Ursus and slaying horrors beyond comprehension, he definitely fit the bill to a tee.
"And you have a Divine General, whatever that implies." She shot back. "You could have summoned it here, just like you had done back then... or, rather, the two previous instances in the past." In her thoughts, it would have made the entire process much faster rather than the black-haired man punching them through. "I wouldn't put past any of its capabilities falling behind Patriot, you used it to repel the Royal Guards, after all."
Her body still instinctually shivered down to every single hair in her body when she witnessed the flaccid docility of the towering monstrosity. Its lean yet heavily posture which was in no way inferior to Patriot's build, and its near robotic steadfastness to its master was a sight to behold. It further dressed a stand in her mind that "Mahoraga" could break out into unbidden aggression at any moment—blitzing with enough speed to rupture the sound barrier.
"I can't always be reliant on a powerful summon." He rolled his eyes. "It wouldn't be too dissimilar if you relied solely on your Arts, instead of combining it with swordsmanship. Do you get what I mean?"
"That's a fair point to make." Talulah mulled it over for a second while speaking. "I understand, a last resort kind of play?" The ashen-haired woman gleaned at the details around her, from the blanketing snow to the trees off in the distance. It signified they were going in the right path.
"Of course, who would throw an..." He paused, attempting to make an analogy that would fit with Terra. "Originium dirty bomb against an ant?"
"Nobody would," she affirmed.
"That's exactly why I don't call him at every instance. Unless I feel like it."
The dragon lady huffed. "Unless you feel like it...? Well, I can understand that part quite well." She remembered when Fushiguro Megumi had become irritated with the Ursus patrols and immediately called upon the summon. "Laurentina doesn't take well to it, from what I've seen."
"I don't get it either." Megumi creased his brows. The one time the three of them—Mahoraga, Laurentina, and himself—were in close proximity, the Aegir would grab his shoulder and steer him away from the Shikigami. "It's my summon, she doesn't have to worry about it at all."
"Can you say such a thing when your... summon looks rather intimidating?" Talulah could feel something travel up and down her spine when remembering its eyeless face with protruding wings staring straight into her soul.
"You've been around Patriot." He glanced at the leader of Reunion.
"...Just forget it." She shook her head. "Enough of this topic today. I still need a run-down on the supplies we have remaining, the locations and activities of Ursus' other patrol squadrons, and..." A way to increase Reunion's morale. With how long they had been stuck in the tundras, and the increasing rebound they'd faced from the Ursus military...
"If you need to clear an outpost somewhere, then just call me." The black-haired man could read her mood and gave his suggestion. "I can do it easily."
"I wouldn't wish to trouble you."
"What if I want to be troubled?" He sarcastically replied. "I've been doing my own thing in the tundras, after all."
"And I worry about that," Talulah countered. "Walking around the tundras without any supervision and placing your life at risk with whatever you do out there." She already had enough of a clue to know what he did, even if it were just an inkling of theories smudged together. "It doesn't sound good."
"You have Reunion as your responsibility, and I have my own."
"That doesn't change the fact—"
"Yes, yes. Danger," Megumi dryly cut her off. "We're always in danger of Ursus sending a hundred of their Royal Guards to clear us out. Reunion is always at risk, you're always at risk, FrostNova is at risk, and everybody is at risk. So what if I'm at slight risk?"
"...When you stepped into the tundras, did you ever believe you would be involved with a volatile group such as ours?" Talulah didn't need to sugarcoat it anymore. Although it would have been lovely for the black-haired man to join Reunion, he had already made it clear he had other places to be, and thus made his refusal.
So, being truthful about the state of Reunion and her worries with it rather than just telling half-truths was something she had become comfortable with.
Megumi closed his eyes and honestly came up with his answer. "No, I didn't. But that doesn't change anything at all."
"What doesn't change?" She asked.
"...Ah, nevermind. You already know."
Talulah turned her head toward him with flickering confusion in her eyes, but she knew enough of the topic to know what he was talking about. "Enough with that, I don't believe you're selfish in the slightest."
"...Wow, I didn't think you could be so wrong about a subject." Megumi stopped in his steps while placing a hand behind his neck to rub it, which had also prompted Talulah to pause as he did.
"Why? What's wrong?" The Draco could feel herself start to become peeved with the way he was staring at her.
"Nothing. You should probably think of another inspiring speech to give to Reunion." Megumi shook his head in order to clear the strange feeling overcoming him. Amongst the snow-filled land, he spoke once more, "It's nothing important, really. There are other things we should focus on worrying about."
Talulah had always found that there was a comforting feeling being close to the blood-drenched man who reeked of malice. As if there was some warmth underneath the cold exterior he held, seldom akin to FrostNova in a way. If she were the cold of winter's breath, yet possessed a warm heart despite it all, then this black-haired man must possess some virtue under all the depravity that sculpted his figure.
Selfishness, yet all of his actions to her had been selfless. He risked his life for FrostNova under a small whim, he had driven off the Emperor's Blades for them and saved countless Reunion lives, and he had been actively clearing out any Ursus patrols that steered close to them. By all means, in her heart, he had practically become an unspoken member of Reunion—even if he hadn't ever officially become one.
"Hm?" Megumi turned an eye toward her.
The Dark blue orbs which possessed no soul, and yet at the same time, burned just as intense as her flames. It was indescribable, but Talulah could see the desire for change underneath them, for a better world. She didn't know if he recognized it himself, but the Draco was just glad that somebody such as him existed—in a different way from her. Rather than giving bolstering speeches to the masses, he was more content with keeping things reserved to himself.
"...You've been staring at me for some time now."
"Oh?" Talulah was brought out of her stupor. "I see. I was." The leader of Reunion turned a gaze toward her palm, the one holding her weapon before. A sigh escaped her, "Anyways, you're right. I should be focusing on Reunion's current matters."
"Uhm, yeah." Megumi nodded, satisfied. "Laurentina and I will probably be by the sidelines. She thinks your speeches are good."
"I wouldn't have expected that from her. Then, what about you?" Talulah asked.
"...No comment." To be completely honest, he didn't pay attention to them. Most of the time, noise would enter one ear and out the other.
He received a glare from her. It was obvious she had seen through him.
Megumi could do nothing but stare away from her. The moment given to him had also allowed him to let his facial features relax and loosen the stoic muscles which had become as hard as rocks. Keeping a scowl or neutral expression had become tiring, and the lack of sleep had only done it worse than any good—something to be expected if he had to be honest himself.
Talulah kept her gaze on him. She could also feel her expression shift away from its display like the concurrent tides of Iberia's south. A brief moment had come by them where silence had sealed their lips tight. All amiability and humor had escaped them as the white fog of the north had clouded their views, and blew their hairs to block the perception of their faces.
"...How much longer?" Talulah was the first to speak, her voice crawling down in a hoarse one as she stared downwards, letting the shadows come across her face so her expression would become further unseen. "How much longer do you think it would take?"
"You know I can't answer that." His voice had almost died in the wind completely as he came to a stop in response to the Draco's words. "I never was able to answer that." Megumi didn't glance back, as a Jujutsu Sorcerer needn't to in the first place. Not even a moment of grievance should be given, as an authentic one needed to possess a heart of stone ready to seal the legacy of allies who had fallen behind them. That way, nothing would come to waste, to honor them by moving forward.
"It's just..." She didn't know what to say to him. He looked like a person who had a million things to say, a past of suffering which granted him experiences she could not comprehend—but ones she intrinsically felt would alleviate the problems she would face further down the line. "I'm sorry to impose this question upon you, but if you were in my position, what would you do...?"
"There's nothing I could do." A whole-hearted admission left his lips as his gaze sauntered toward the sky. The perilous heights had reminded the humanity of Terra time and time again where they stood.
The world of Earth had conquered the stars, and bled their reach into space, even if they were just a needle. For Terra, such an accomplishment had been torn away from their hands, in a fabric of all-consuming protectiveness against a cosmic spite.
"Is that so?" Talulah felt her breath shaking as she breathed out, watching as the mist caressed her cheek. "I don't know why, but you're always so..." She couldn't complete her sentence as she turned upwards and watched his back. The black haori covered nearly his entire body, billowing in the wind in such a way that his arms looked like they didn't exist under its coverage, and gave him a mystique which she couldn't see through.
"Always so?" Megumi repeated while glancing back at her. His dull orbs met her own, two of which had no will to clash against one another, for they already have once upon a time. His spiky hair twisted in the northern gale, as snow clung onto it like the coagulation of blood. Anybody would wish to leave such a scene as quickly as possible, but for him, he didn't need to. Especially with an unfinished conversation before him.
"...Forget it." She felt all vestiges of whatever statement she wished to make vanish off into the cold blow of the wind. "It's nothing." The Draco couldn't share it. She had not the strength of will to answer so in front of the angel dressed in death's garbs.
So silently, all he could do was watch the departure of a grief-stricken dragon.
Frozen. She was frozen. The deep grasp of Winter had dragged its captured soul down further into a state of lull. If the season of blues could keep the world stagnant and keep it stuck in a time of suffering, then the suffering of Talulah had become an agonizingly slow process with what had been done to her. A choice done to prolong life out of goodwill had also inadvertently prolonged a greater pain.
Whatever burning inferno that laid deep inside her heart which burned brighter than any furnace in the world had been dimmed. It was a fading light becoming nothing but a wisp in the eternal night looming over, soon to be whisked away from the apathetic confines of Terra. Was that a better fate for the woman? For the most intense of lights was bound to burn itself out the fastest out of all others.
Until nothing but ash remained.
Fushiguro Megumi didn't know what to say at the current moment when he stood in the corner of the room where the Draco was held. It took far too long for him to find her, and he had repeatedly risked being spotted multiple times. If he never thought of training to suppress his Cursed Energy when he first arrived into this world, he would have been a beacon that attracted all of Reunion's attention.
But now, he had finally found where Talulah had been placed, and she wasn't dead. To be more accurate, she was one foot into the grave with the state that she was in. Originium shards were in large amounts, and present on the surface of her skin, and that signified to him that there must have also been high concentrations of them in her flesh, blood, and muscles. It had overridden the mutated DNA.
Even if Oripathy was less of an insidious killer than radiation, it was far quicker when its higher exposure was present. From the looks of it, Talulah's state was akin to an Infected abusing their Arts to the absolute limit and letting their body fall to Originium. How she had ended up in such a state was unknown to him, so he assumed that the woman had intentionally abused her Arts using the Originium inside her body in order to combat the effects of radiation.
Though he had an inclination to believe that wasn't true, there was no way to conceive an answer that would satisfy the truth in the fleeting moment.
No clear-cut evidence split from the silver sheen of logic's blade supported whatever other theory he could scrounge up. Even if he believed in a hunch or an instinct engraved in the body like a scripture, a sound argument was impossible at this very moment. Evidence was not made from the loftiness of the imaginative mind. Those made from it, would just be predictions or theories—untested and as volatile as a sparking rope leading to a bomb.
"...Seriously." Megumi placed a hand over his face as stress overcame him. What questions would he ask to interrogate her? That much he didn't need to ruminate much on, because he already had enough direction to know what they were. It was just the unwanted sense of nervousness clinging onto his skin like sweat, making his clothes stick in a way that was akin to the feeling of paper-thin wafers.
Cycling through the events that happened before because of this woman like scrolling through a camera reel was starting to be more of a bother than he could have imagined. Even then, there was something much deeper that he could hardly comprehend in the grand scheme of things, such as why... why he had detected two souls in her.
"Just get it over with..."
There was not much time. The flaccid clicks of the clock were not soft in the slightest. Each passing moment where it signified a shift in the temporal immateriality of the world was a forlorn warning toward all life that the ultimate path of all things leads to only a single conclusion. To stall such an ancient force as old as time, was all he could do in his decrepit and mortal state.
Taking in a deep breath, the black-haired man formed the shadow puppets needed for a Totality best suited for healing.
Round Deer
Divine Dogs
Tiger Funeral
Nue
Great Serpent
Toad
Rabbit Escape
Piercing Ox
Max Elephant
A mass congregation of Shikigamis, all of various colors and origin had gathered together when he completed the rest of it with the Totality hand seal, a Mudra which would be the finishing touch in merging them together. Therefore, the results presented itself as a clash of souls no longer repelling each other, but intermingled into a system where they would be birthed from the womb of Curses. Such was the malleability of Shikigamis touched by Yakushi Nyorai's grace, the lineage of spiritually-inclined blood having been passed down from eternity until now.
Round Deer: Totality - Nine-Colored Deer
(Round Deer + Divine Dogs + Tiger Funeral + Nue + Great Serpent + Toad + Rabbit Escape + Piercing Ox + Max Elephant)
Nine Shikigamis, that was the perfect amount needed for the Totality in front of him.
It was celestial, bright, and possessed different elements orbiting it. From water to fire to lightning, all three of them were in the sundial radiance permeating off of its form in the shape of a glittering halo. There were dashed marks on its body in small portions, bearing the mantle and imagery of the nine of the Ten Sacred Treasures, all also of their own nine distinct colors.
Out of all of his Shikigamis barring the Divine General himself, Fushiguro Megumi could say that Nine-Colored Deer was the most divine out of them. Such an eminence only told a story from a historical fact that couldn't be condemned in the slightest—the greatest Output and Control of Positive Energy ever conceived in Jujutsu Society's known history. Just being close to it, would be a testament written upon scriptures of old.
The main body was colored in bright ivory, with small golden chain-like ornaments gracing its antlers and hanging off of it. It possessed three eyes rather than six, with each of them being a pitch-black. But instead of a coarse charcoal as one would expect from such a tainted color, it was more accurate to say the experience of witnessing such colors was not far off from staring into a smooth sphere of obsidian.
"This is the first time I'm putting you to action..." The black-haired man muttered. "You're weaker than Ryomen Sukuna by a step because you use a support Shikigami as the base, but your healing and defensive abilities should be unparalleled."
The white and glowing Totality glanced behind itself directed its serene eyes into its Sovereign. It was said in the story of the Nine-Colored Deer that they possessed such a radiant presence that an auric polish encompassed its body like a spherical drape. Each time an arrow would attempt to pass through such a majestic barrier, they would be vaporized with an intense heat greater and more visceral than the sun. But as if to its mercy and love to nature, such intense heat never lit even a blade of grass around it to flames.
Megumi knew that higher potency of a certain technique meant more discoveries could be found from it. Yamata-no-Orochi possessed thunder storms which also held higher concentrations of EM waves in them compared to Nue. Said bird Shikigami only possessed small scale lightning bolts and hardly possessed any of the more dangerous traits present in the phenomenon—such as gamma rays. For Nine-Colored Deer... it should possess a greater deal of mastery over utilizing Reverse Cursed Technique in order to treat diseases, injuries, and all the like.
Lightning was already known in its potency and variables. Scientists had just about discovered enough of the forces governing the phenomenon. For Reverse Cursed Technique, only a limited amount of researchers available in each time period could have access to the malleable energy. Even then, they would have to face the draining consequences of such a high-yield technique, one that was enough to sap the Reserves of a prodigal Jujutsu Sorcerer like a battery undergoing a static discharge.
So, it was time to test it out.
He motioned to Talulah who was frozen in a block of his, and gave his command, "That woman in there, I need answers from her. I can't receive any if she's dead, so unfreeze her and make sure the Oripathy Infection doesn't take her life." They were in a rather gentle voice, as he stood by the Totality he had created.
A small nod was given. "As you command." A voice of ethereality came from the voice of Nine-Colored Deer, resembling that of a female. It was as soft as lotus petals, the gracious gifts of nature represented enlightenment and rebirth, the joys of the world which was paradoxically also a suffering for others—as they were never pleasures for mortals to enjoy.
"That's good to—" Megumi was about to finish his sentence, but found himself freezing in place in profound shock. His jaw became momentarily slack. He blinked once and shook his head in order to clear his fogged confusion plashed by the waves of trepidation. "You... Did you...?"
The Jujutsu Sorcerer didn't receive an answer as his Totality—which had talked—already turned around and walked toward the frosted cube that Talulah was stuck in. Each clack of its four feet were ephemeral in nature, holding the grace of a celestial apparatus of mythological texts and images.
The barriers sealing away the sacred flames of ambition were touched by its antlers. As such, an uncontested heat which bore no ill will was undoing each and every chain which bound the inferno around. The shackles of the frozen bone could be seen shattering in front of it, piece by piece, link by link.
Although, the master commanding the celestial apparition of white transparency couldn't enjoy just a magnificent display given to him. He could only stare at his own creation dumbly, wondering what machinations of the Ten Shadows had granted his Totality—for the first time—the capability of perceiving and utilizing the age-old dialect known as human speech. Suffice to say, the conundrum had left him more still than Talulah herself.
A bar belonged to Penguin Logistics, and by extension, Emperor. The Ends of the Earth was dimly lit with orange lights that could increase in intensity and boasted a wide assortment of alcohol that were sourced from all across the world. From Victoria and Ursus to Yan, finding a drink from any of those regions wouldn't be difficult if even a second was spent searching.
Well, if one were also willing to pay the price, obviously.
For the moment, only two occupants resided in such a place. Namely, a black-haired Lupo and a red-haired Sankta. For the former, she was stuck in her ruminations for the moment, especially with the constant rise of security in Lungmen for reasons unknown. To the public it was rather obscure, but for herself... she already knew enough.
Then there was another thing stuck between the plasticity of her brain.
Texas sometimes wondered what Fushiguro Megumi had done to make a certain white-haired Lupo—Lappland—constantly talk about him whenever she crossed paths with her. Of course, she had enjoyed a moment of respite over the past few months by skillfully avoiding her, helped by the fact that Penguin Logistics had been sent all across Lungmen, taking on a barrage of missions. Namely, those from Rhodes Island through a partnership that had extended to where they were now.
"Heyyy~! Looks like Rhodes has got their work cut out for them. Catch the news lately?"
She was broken out of her thoughts by a squeaking sledgehammer.
Texas cast a side-eye toward the red-haired Sankta, Exusiai, as the Lupo bit down a little harder on her chocolate stick, grinding it into a fine paste before swiftly swallowing. "What happened?" she asked.
"So..." she drew out, "we got the info on Misha's location for them, right?" Exusiai gestured outward as she spoke. "Turns out Reunion knew where she was too, and all hell broke loose when they found her."
...That didn't sound good.
"Was she taken?" Texas completely dismissed the thought of Lappland and her apparent obsession with the black-haired man who had bombed Lungmen twice before.
"Straight to the point, huh?" Exusiai placed her hands on her hips and nodded. "Yup. She got snatched right from under their noses."
"Figures," Texas sighed. "I wouldn't be surprised if we're sent to assist."
"Hey, beats sitting around in a bar doing nothing."
"Maybe," Texas replied half-heartedly. "If they need us, we might as well respond."
Exusiai hummed in agreement as she gauged the woman in front of her. "Also, before we get a message from them—how much you wanna bet it'll be in ten minutes?" She wiggled her brows playfully.
Texas gave her a neutral stare, the picture of disinterest. "500 LMD says it'll take less than ten minutes. Five, at most." Yet, despite her expression, her words betrayed her anticipation.
"Straight off the bat! I like that!" Exusiai grinned. "Alright, alright, I'll put in 600 LMD then! I say it'll take more than five minutes—opposite of your bet."
"Okay." Texas nodded, keeping up her previous attitude. "Aside from this, what else do we have?"
"I dunno. Hey, wanna spice up this bet a little bit and drag in a third party? I nominate... Sora!" A sinister smirk came across the angel's features, while she propped her chin atop her palmed hands. "I could call her right now for the funsies." A phone was hatched out of her wares as she dangled it in front of her.
"She's busy elsewhere, and the context for this entire thing will be lost on her," Texas curtly stated. "She won't follow in with it."
"Aw, but what if you... you know...? Convince her?" Exusiai gave her a joking grin. "After all, she'd listen to—"
"No."
"Wah, that's a shame." The red-haired Sankta crossed her legs, and gave up on the topic near instantly. Instead, she tried another one, "Soooo~ about Lappland?"
"No."
Exusiai sighed after receiving another firm denial. "Well, you do know she joined Rhodes Island, right?"
"Ugh..." Texas, for once, looked perturbed. In a flash, however, she returned back to normal. "I should have expected something like that to happen. I'm not too surprised."
"Well, let's just leave it at that." She chuckled while staring at her Lupo friend, before kicking it back and flicking her phone, activating it swiftly in the process. A few scrolls here and there, and she came upon something else she wished to show Texas. "While we wait for Rhodes Island, take a look at this."
Texas was just about to pull out another Pocky stick to pop into her mouth. "Look at what? You have a lot to talk about today." She could already see the interest coming over the Sankta's eyes when looking at something. Perhaps it was prepared in advance.
"I always have something to say." Exusiai chuckled. "Keep up with the latest news?" She had shown what she wished to toward the Lupo, and found that Texas had nodded her head in an affirmative manner to her words.
"Yes." She agreed easily. "Triads, crime bosses, Mafias—all the like. They've been put six feet under."
"Oh, sheesh, so you do know." Exusiai let out a breath of air before turning off her phone. It was no longer needed. "The news says the rate of dismantling them is, 'never before seen in Lungmen.' You hear that? Who do you think it could have been? 'Cause they're setting records right now."
Texas' first thought lay in Lappland, seeing how the white-haired woman was unstable at times. But then again, would going out of her way to kill a bunch of random people—no, scratch that, each kill definitely had a motive—be on her resume? In fact, the black-haired Lupo was sure she was more disinterested in such things if they didn't affect her directly.
Could it be Lungmen's Special Forces, whoever they are, cracking down on crime? That couldn't be it either, because some of the organizations belonged to the Rat King or were under the Rat King himself. She already implicitly knew the connections between the Rat King and Lungmen entirely—which also extended to the Chief Executive.
Although she could only hazard a guess, she assumed it had to do something with keeping control of the slums through a second party, because crime was impossible to completely get rid of. All in all, it would be best to keep the underworld on a tight leash. There would be no reason for the Chief Executive to send out his special forces for a purge at this time, especially with a terrorist organization knocking at their doorstep.
So, when she responded to Exusiai after a course of deliberation, she gave the best answer she could. "I don't know."
"Really? Well, same here." Exusiai tossed in the towel just as easily as Texas. "Though... I hope it doesn't come our way, y'know?"
The black-haired Lupo glanced at the bubbly Sankta. She still bore a nonchalant smile, but perhaps the news had shaken her up a slight bit—considering just how many people had been found dead without any notice—in a single day.
"They target criminal organizations. That's the only constant about them," Texas replied. "Mercenary groups haven't been targeted, so they wouldn't have any motives to go against Penguin Logistics if they don't care about them."
"Eh, that's true." Exusiai rebounded back quickly. "I'd say they must have some sense of morality in them if they're so hellbent on clearing out the underworld. That—or they have some agenda for doing so."
Texas nodded.
Just as the Lupo was about to reply back, she could feel Exusiai's phone ringing. That had left the both of them freezing in anticipation as the Sankta hastily reached into her pocket, and took a glance at what time it was.
"...Ah, drat. Only four minutes had passed..." Exusiai scratched the back of her head with a defeated grin, showing the phone to Texas. "Rhodes Island's already called us."
The recipient of the showcase gave no reaction. "Take the call." However, it would be a lie if she didn't at least feel a bit victorious inside.
A/N: Here is the Valentine's Omake. A bit late, but here we go.
It was Valentine's Day.
Fushiguro Megumi was carrying a box of chocolates, dressed in a velvet casing shaped in the form of a heart—delicately carrying as if it were meant for somebody special. His posture was more "personal" than usual, holding a sense of foreboding for something that the spectators inside of the cafeteria could see.
Laurentina felt her eyes widen from her seat. Skadi was seated beside her, not saying much of a word, but the Orca could see the vested intrigue ladened in the Shark's eyes; something she had never seen before—not even when she was gazing upon a sculpture or statue.
The Orca's gaze followed her and saw the black-haired man walking around with the item in hand, holding a precarious stature as he moved across the cafeteria. When she saw the shape of it and what significance she held, Skadi's mouth left open in an "oh" as she turned toward Laurentina once more, figuring out just what had the other Aegir in such a vice grip.
"Shark," Skadi said.
"Orca," Laurentina giggled with a response. "Oh, look at the direction of his movement, he's headed straight for me, isn't he?" She had long since forgotten the need for sustenance as she gracefully set down her fork, watching the stored chocolate in its lovely retainer dance in the black-haired man's hands. "Look at all those girls glancing at him—as if he's there to hand it to them."
True to her words, other Operators were glancing at the black-haired man moving across the cafeteria. Namely, female Operators from what Laurentina could see, of the varying kind. Although the black-haired man was subject to many rumors about him, he was also subject to the interest of a few people which she had deduced to be of that kind.
"Shark?" Skadi felt even more confused. However, she started to understand when glancing around. She saw a blonde-haired Elafia bringing her hands closer to her heart as Megumi continued to make it across, along with a white-haired Lupo wagging her tail, and... wow, that was a lot of people. "Oh..."
Laurentina let out an amused sigh. "Goodness, they're all so outmatched by me that I almost feel guilty."
"...You don't look guilty at all." Skadi said while picking up her fork and biting on a piece of food.
The shark lady ignored her words while she kept her eyes locked on Fushiguro Megumi. She could feel a guilty pleasure when he had walked straight past a blonde-haired Elafian woman who she recalled to be named Viviana—somebody back during their time in Kazimierz. Suffice to say, Viviana looked devastated.
"Isn't that adorable? The way her ears droop down? Heh." Laurentina placed a hand over her mouth while amusement continued to overcome her. Next, there was a white-haired Lupo who had her tail wagging with a confident expression, only to have it completely drop when she was walked past by Megumi just like the last.
Skadi continued to eat in silence, ignoring the Aegir who was far too invested in such an event than she could have imagined. "Is he headed for Shark, then?' The question came to her mind while chewing.
A pink-haired Zalak who didn't frequent Rhodes Island much was the next to be completely ignored and walked past. Although she held a reserved look, the way her muscles tightened when that had occurred was already telling enough to Laurentina that she was bothered. Once more, it was amusing.
Laurentina attempted to look nonchalant while a hand covered her mouth which was about to break into an uncontrollable grin. Therefore, she hummed a small melody, already sure that Fushiguro Megumi had chosen her to be his Valentine's. 'The other girls never stood a chance, hah!'
A blue-haired Lung gripped her utensils tighter when she was walked past.
A white-haired Sarkaz let out a disappointed sigh when she was walked past.
Yadda, yadda, yadda.
Laurentina crossed her legs and set her elbow on the table as majestically as she could, propping her cheek on her hand as she closed her eyes. A small smile came across her features, distinguished and dignified. She could already imagine in her mind a blushing black-haired man bending on one knee and showering her with roses, presenting the heart-shaped chocolate box in front of her—the perfect set up for romance!
"...Shark."
He was just before her, wasn't he? Well, his steps were still moving, but it must have been because he was getting into the perfect position to present himself to her, of course!
"...Shark."
A nudge was felt by her side as Laurentina found herself at a shock. His footsteps were still moving from what her senses could pick up, so when she shot her eyes open...
...He had walked past her.
"What...?" The Aegir couldn't fathom it. He had walked past... her? Every other woman behind her...? Then who could he have—
"Itadori-kun," Megumi said in a soft voice once his steps had come to a complete halt. The tenderness in it was never heard before from anybody in the cafeteria, as everybody's attention had now been glued completely on him.
"Oi~! Fushiguro-kyun!" A second voice was heard, one that held the purity of the world in it. Amicable in all the senses, the sight of a pink-haired man with some scars across his face could be seen, yet none of them could cover up the radiance that came off of his smiling features. "Whatcha got there?"
"It's a box of chocolates, your favorite kind here on Terra. Here." Megumi handed the object toward the other man, making the hearts of a few specific female Operators in Rhodes Island fall into the pits.
"Oh, really? Aha, thanks man!" Itadori Yuji smiled, while wrapping his arm around the black-haired man who glanced away in embarrassment. "Seriously, you're the best! Wanna hang out after? It's been awhile with all the missions and all. Just the two of us?"
"Of course, of course..." Megumi said. "It's always the best to hang out with you, Itadori-kun."
In that very instance, forks and tables breaking could be heard.
Against Fumble Man's Pookie Bear, they never stood a chance.