My world vanished, consumed by the flaring energy that covered my entire field of vision as far as the eye could see. A sharp and stomach churning sensation not unlike slipping on ice and desperately trying to regain your balance filled my body, persisting as the journey commenced. I was aware of the eternities rushing past me, that I was slipping and sliding my way through innumerable universes, skimming and swirling around them on the way to my eventual destination. How I knew this was beyond words but the truth lodged itself into my brain regardless.
As suddenly as the wild ride had began, it ended just as suddenly. With a flare of blue energies the real world reasserted itself into existence and I slid out of a blue portal to find myself in a tight alley, the walls of stone builds rising up on either side. Before me was the entrance out onto a cobbled street, people in rustic but clean clothes going about their day.
"It worked..." I breathed in awe, a rise of euphoria and the desire to burst into laugher filling my chest. It had worked. I'd really travelled into another universe, leaving my second home behind in a flash of arcane energies. With but a thought and a modest expenditure of power I could ride the pathway all the way back.
The knowledge of just how unbound I was paled in comparison to experiencing it first hand.
I stumbled out onto the main street on trembling legs, the adrenaline dump from undergoing my first universal transition wreaking havoc on my young body. Thankfully there was a bench situated not far away, perfect to just sit down on and regain my equilibrium.
"Hup." I exhaled, hopping onto the wooden seat, across from an older man leaning back and eating a snack. I took the moment to sigh heavily, releasing the build-up of tension and excitement. Everything was going perfectly according to plan. I turned my head, taking in my target at the far end of the road, multiple towers rising proudly into the air, connected by stone bridges high off the ground.
Hopefully I'd arrived at the exact time-period I'd focused on when initialising the Dimensional Breach for the first time. Time would move at equal speeds in both worlds and if I accidentally ended up at a later period... well, that could complicate matters slightly. Not to mention rob me of several potential Peerage members. I wasn't married to any of my hopefuls of this universe in particular, but that didn't mean I wanted an accident to rob me of the opportunity.
Minutes began to slowly pass as I just focused on settling my racing heart and twitching limbs, allowing my focus to flow over the milling peoples just wandering the city streets. A wide range of humanoid species could be seen, happily intermingling. Tiny little people passed by human children, while their parents chattered with men and woman bearing distinctly animal traits.
Intellectually I knew the Underworld had more species inhabiting it, but from the perspective of a low class who had never even laid eyes on a reincarnated devil outside of the television screen? From the perspective of a boring earthling? It was all wondrously exotic. I people watched for a while, just enjoying the atmosphere before little details began to stick out.
The parents were standing just a little too close to those children. The happy expressions seemed particularly strained, as if people where forcing themselves to be cheerful. A subtle air that I'd initially taken for excitement was instead restrained tension lurking just beneath the surface.
Ah.
Well, I suppose it was to be expected.
With my enjoyment curdling in my stomach I finally left the bench behind, heading towards my obvious destination. The almost castle, almost palace but not quite either was hardly inconspicuous.
I ambled through the crowd until I reached the towering gates. Posted outside five men and woman stood warily, armed and armoured. Their eyes flickered over every passer by, cataloguing the civilians and watching for potential threats.
Mustering my courage and knowing it was game time, I put on a smile and approached the guards. Now was the time to go for broke because if my master plan stumbled right at the starting line, I might just cry. There was little that was more demoralising that failing before you could properly begin.
"Excuse me mister." I called out, singling one of the armed guards out, looking up innocently.
"What's the matter, little man?" The armoured guard replied after a moment spent observing me, a friendly smile coming to his lips, twisting a jagged scar that ran over his chin. He knelt down, propping his arms on his knees, his face equally as high as mine. "Are you lost?"
"I sure hope not." I replied. "Is this the home of the Loki Familia?"
"That it is." The adventurer replied, glancing to his companions. Several of them stiffened slightly, eyes glaring outward at our surroundings as if attempting to spot a hidden threat. "Is there something you need us for? Whatever it is, you can tell us, okay?"
"I want to join the Loki Familia please!" I shamelessly begged, clapping my little hands together and engaging maximum cuteness. Eyes wide, face tilted down, hopefully expression! Channel your inner puppy! Think cute thoughts!
"Ah..." The guard trailed off, some unseen tension fading away. One his fellows gave a quiet laugh, but I kept my target pinned by the weaponised cuteness. I may or may not have practised this manoeuvrer in front of a mirror a time or two. Thankfully for my ego, nobody would ever know. "Sorry kid, but we aren't recruiting people quite as... inexperienced as you."
"That a lie." I pouted, still trying to win my entry without revealing any of my cards. Truthfully, I wasn't entirely stupid and hadn't expected this to work, but it would have been nice if it had.
"Ah, you heard about the Doll Princess?" A female guard interrupted, leaning over to clap a hand gently on my shoulder. "Sorry to say, she's a special case. An exception, if you will. We aren't actually recruiting kids."
"Special cases are allowed in then?" I grinned, dropping the cutesy act, teeth on full display. "You're in luck! Can I show you something secret?"
"What's that, kid?" The first man replied, an indulgent look spreading across his face as the other guards sighed and began moving away, momentary tension forgotten.
I shook looks both way down the street, real paranoia encouraging me to engage in fake paranoid. My small hand raised close to the man's face, a small trickle of Demonic Power leaking out through my palm. A tiny crimson magic circle an inch across spun gently into existence, a stripped down version of my lightning spell control mechanism.
The adventurer reeled back in shock, his movements so fast he looked like a blur. His fellow adventurers snapped to attention at the sudden reaction, hands pulling weapons. Before I could be skewered by a jumpy battle-junky, I lowered my palm and giggled, the spell circle fading away.
"Hehe. See, special! Now can I join your Familia?"
"What was that?"
"What happened?"
"You fooling around or something?"
The other guards chimed in, looking on edge at their fellow's reflexive evasion.
"No, I was just... surprised, that's all." The scarred guard sighed, shaking his head down at me, his hand slowly releasing it's death grip on his sword. "Heaven's above kid, you can't be doing that to people. Why do you want to join Loki Familia anyway, is your own not treating you well?"
"That's the thing mister." I allowed my grin to stretch wider, becoming a full on shit-eating smirk. I'm not entirely sure how my young face was pulling it off, but it felt appropriate. "I'm not in a Familia and I never have been!"
Our eyes locked for a frozen moment, my yellow meeting his brown.
He swallowed heavily.
"Looks like we need to go see the boss lady."
The scar chinned guard brushed off the immediate questions from his fellows and opened the gate, leading me inside. The grounds themselves were small but well cared for, most of the property taken up by the base of the numerous towers. We entered the centre tower and ascended a spiralling staircase as a chorus of voices grew louder and louder.
I came to a sudden halt, just observing the scene we'd walked in on. Multiple occupied tables ran the length of the room, dozens of men and woman of disparate species chowing down on breakfast. From the walls hung numerous banners bearing the sigil of the Trickster, the mark of their Familia. The echo of their general merriment and laugher filled the hall with a harmonious noise.
"This way kid." My guide encouraged, placing a hand on my back and gently propelling me forward towards a particular table. There were various figures sitting on the table, with enough distinguishing features that I could translate the sight from exaggerated 2-D to the real world. There, a beautiful elven woman with shimmering green hair. A dignified man with bright hair sized like a child, dwarfed by the unnaturally wide and hairy dwarf towering beside him.
As we approached, a slim and attractive redhead with narrow eyes swivelled on the bench, laughing uproariously at something, tears in her eyes. I couldn't resist my eyes roving down her barely clothed body, those tiny shorts doing little to contain her bubbly rear.
"Hey, hey, Herto! Come and hear this!" The goddess cried out to the man leading me, spotting his approach and waving him over with a welcoming smile. "Bara went ta collect the weekly resupply right, and on the way-"
"Excuse me Lady Loki." The guard- Herto- interrupted with polite cough. The adventurer's large hand gently urged me forward. "There's a bit of a... this young lad approached the gates and asked to join the Familia."
"Eh?" Loki blinked at the sudden change of topic, pouting at having her story cut off. I couldn't help my spine straightening when her attention turned my way, acutely aware than a literal goddess was giving me her full attention. As much as the gods of this worlds gimped themselves to play around with the mortals, I was under no delusions this being before me was a normal woman. There was an... air around her, even while sitting down at a table and waving around a half eaten sausage. Her mere existence charged the atmosphere around her in a tangible way.
"I wasn't aware that the Familia is current expanding. The most recent tranche is still settling in." The beautiful elf spoke up, shooting a look at the man behind me, her words coloured with a pointed rebuke.
"Riveria is correct." The little blonde man carried on instantly, picking up after the elf the instant her words stopped. Unlike the woman however, his eyes had never left me, scanning over my form. "A fact that Herto should be well aware of."
"Hmmm." The dwarf hummed in agreement, shooting us both a look while drowning a tankard. "Recruiting too fast is no good."
"Hello, my name is Sirvolt." I stepped forward to arrive before the goddess, meeting her eyes with as much courage as I could muster. Despite the half decade and change that living as a supernatural entity brought me, I still wasn't fully accustomed to just how bizarre life could become. Talking to a literal divine entity was a heart pounding experience for a man who'd once lived a mundane life. "I very much want to join the Loki Familia!"
"Strange name." Loki observed, spinning on the bench to face me completely, spreading her slim legs wide and leaning back. "As you probably guessed, I'm Loki. Nice to meet'cha kid. Now... why would I want you in my Familia."
"Just to be clear upfront, I don't want to join the Familia full time. I can't like, live here and stuff. It's complicated." I answered immediately, knowing that would cause my already low chances to sink even further... if I had been a normal recruit. Still, I kept a confident expression on my face, not looking away from Loki to register the others reaction to my words.
"Ooooh." Loki responded, her already narrow eyes narrowing further. "For a little brat with an already low shot, those are some dangerous words. What makes you think that sorta approach is goin' to work for ya?"
"If I didn't have cards up my sleeve, I wouldn't have gotten in the front door." I said, puffing up slightly. "You won't find many people like me around here and any Familia will snap me up real quick. Lucky for you, I think the Loki Familia is the best, so I came here first."
"Love the confidence kid." Loki rolled her eyes, stuffing the last of her sausage into her mouth. "I doubt Herto-boy would bring you straight up here if there wasn't a reason... so now's the time to lay those cards of yours on the table."
I glanced around uncertainly, noticing that not just the executives were paying close attention but so was most of the Famila. The previously loud conversations ringing around the room had drastically quieted as dozens of people tried surreptitiously to listen in, all while pretending they were doing no such thing.
"If you truly wish to join this Familia, to become one of us, showing trust towards your future comrades is essential." Finn broke in gently. "Shared trust and belief in your Familia is essential."
"Right." For the first time I looked away from Loki to nod to the Pallum. Having said that, I raised a hand and pointed it towards the ground- not wanting to startle anyone- and activated the magical circle for my lightning spell at full force. The metre wide crimson spell amplifier shone with a sinister glow as I amped up the power running through it, stopping just short of initialising the spell itself.
"At such a young age..." Riveria muttered, a slender finger brushing green hair aside, her eyes narrowing down at me. "And human?"
"I doubt any Familia that had invested so many resources would let you go so easily... no..." Finn started then stopped, raising a finger only to leave it paused in the air.
"Do you already belong to a Familia brat?" Loki asked, a smug grin slowly spreading across her face, anticipating the answer.
"I'm not in a Familia nor have I ever been in a Familiar." I said clearly, looking up at the divinity who would instantly detect lies and being as plain in my wording as possible. "I have no Falna."
The room quieted down instantly, all those adventurers previously pretending not to be listening in dropping the pretence to look my way. It felt like a thousand laser pointers were all targeted across my body, the intense gazes of the professional combatants making me feel uncomfortable.
"Oh that's what I like to hear." Loki grinned, leaning forward intently, her face inches away. "But that ain't the only card you've yet to flip. Go ahead brat..."
I blinked at the goddess, not having intended to be fully upfront but unwilling to back down now. What other options did I have right now? I'd taken the first steps, now it was time to walk this walk. So with a dramatic wave of my arms, I allowed the bat-like wings to spread from my back. My body gently lifted off the floor, coming to a hover just above the goddess.
"Ha! You ain't from around here, are you kid?" Loki asked, crossing her arms across her slim chest and gazing up at me with laughter in her eyes.
"My home is... very, very far away." I agreed, allowing the magic circle I'd been maintaining to dissipate harmlessly.
"What?!"
"Flying?"
"Why does he have wings?!"
"What species is that?"
"I've never seen anything like it."
"Is he a monster?"
"Well, I'll be."
"You don't see that everyday."
"If the Goddess let's him in, we very well might."
"If? Even you aren't that brain-dead."
The room filled with a dozen hushed conversations, shock clearly visible on most faces. As far as I knew, if the ability to fly even existed among the mortal species here, it was exceedingly rare. To openly display my wings was to move beyond the norms of this world.
But as Finn said... if I wanted to become part of this Familia it was best to extend some trust. I'd be relying on these people to guide me through my first steps as an actual combatant, placing my very life and health into their guardianship. Despite being a devil and presumably bearing a Falna, my body was still only six years old. I wasn't a ridiculous prodigy like Ais, not by a long shot. I may be a reincarnation, but the reincarnations in this world were of legendary heroes, not some warehouse manager.
"Looks like you had the right hand after-all." Loki laughs, extending a hand. "Welcome to my Famila kid."
"Thank you, goddess." I smiled, shaking her petite hand that still utterly dwarfed my own. "I'll do my best to-"
A small girl with dull blonde hair that was a tangled and matted mess stepped past my floating body, ducking under our joined hands and ignoring the scene completely. She came to a stop before the large dwarf and stared at him silently, demandingly.
"Aaah, I'm still eating breakfast. Wait a few more moment." Gareth grumbled, resuming his meal that I'd inadvertently interrupted. The girl just stood there gazing at him, a tiny pale fist squeezing the pommel of her miniature sheathed sword.
"Aisuu, looky, we got another little'un joining." Loki smirked, breaking the handshake to lean towards the child in armour fitted to her small size. Pit marks covered nearly every inch of the protective coverings, scratches and tiny gouges that spoke of hundreds of close calls. "Why don't you try making a friend?"
I smiled brightly at the little murder-gremlin and extended a hand. "I'm Sirvolt, nice to meet you."
"...Ais." The little girl replied, utterly ignoring my outstretched hand in favour of retuning to gaze at the muscular dwarf, expectation dripping from every pour. "Let's go."
With a harried sigh the veteran adventurer stuffed a string of bacon into his mouth and hopped off the bench. "Looks like I'll see you all later."
A string of goodbyes followed the retreating pair as they exited the room, frowns appearing on a multitude of faces as they finish departing.
"This can't go on." Riveria said unhappily.
"A problem for another time." Finn agreed, turning back towards me.
A round of introductions were made to the officers of the Familia, before Loki bundled us off to an out of the way office, the Pallum and Elf joining us.
"Okay kiddy, shirt off. Time for you to become one of us, yeah?" Loki grinned, pulling out a needle from a draw in her desk.
I nodded, fighting down the excitement that came with it. On it's own a Falna would give me a small boost, but what it meant was so much more. When an adventurer gained points in their status and slowly advanced towards the peak, this growth slowed down dramatically. A normal persons body could only advance so far, only grow so strong. The answer to this problem was the Level Up, a quantitative upgrade on the bearers very existence.
Devil's were not like other beings. To compare us to mortals was a grave mistake as we were fundamentally beings of magic. The level of growth a devil could undergo was in no way comparable to the average human's. Our ceiling was almost infinitely higher than the beings of this world.
What would an upgrade of such a nature do to a devil? How would it impact my overall capacity for growth? What would undergoing it at such a young age do to me?
I didn't have the answers to those questions but I damn sure wanted to find out. The burning need to answer this question through first hand experience lead me to chose this universe as my initial destination, but that reason was only one of many.
My shirt was all but thrown off as I sat on a low stool positioned before a comfortable chair. Loki slipped in behind me, the executives watching. At first there was nothing and then-
-Something caressed me, penetrating deep into my existence, drawing a gasp of surprise. It tickled and warmed and sent shivers through my toes, as the godly blessing permeated every iota of my existence, soul and all. In that moment I felt every inch of my body and beyond become just a touch more...
"There ya go, now let's have a- oh my." Loki began before trailing off. I heard scratching behind me as the goddess wrote out the details. "When ya said you were far from home, it looks like ya was undersellin' it a little."
"Hmm." I hummed, my heart jolting in my chest, aware that the Falna had probably grassed me up in some way. I could lie but that would bring me nothing. The possibility Loki was bluffing occurred to me, but I disregarded it as unimportant. "A few universes away... I don't actually know how to measure distance in realities..."
"So why come here?" Loki asked, leaving her seat to pace around the office, a frown on her face. "Why this world and why come to us?"
"Because this is where I want to be." I answered simply and truthfully, glancing at the executives who looked largely befuddled. Riveria's elegant brows were heavily furrowed while Finn was deep in thought, his eyes shut and chin in hand. "It's where I want to begin my journey."
"Ah, you know just the things to say." Loki snorted, hands on her hips. She stopped before me and looked down at my seated form. "So what's this part time thing all about? If you're jumping between worlds, you ain't gonna commit?"
"Parents." I shrugged awkwardly, feeling slightly embarrassed. "They'd freak out if I was gone all the time."
"Parent-" Loki began before stopping, a grin growing on her face. "Where're you supposed to be right now?"
"School." I answered sheepishly, thoroughly caught out.
"So you really can just hop right on over?" The goddess asked, leaning over until her face was inches from my own.
"Just with a bit of magic, yeah. I can only carry a few special people with me, in the future that is. Right now it's just me and what I can carry." I replied, rubbing my sweating hands onto my trousers. We stared at each other for several moments, eye to eye and nose to nose.
"Looks like I'm lucky you came to me first then!" Loki laughed in delight, pulling back and slapping me gently on the back. "Ah, I have the best children!"
"Loki, can you please expand on what you are saying?" Riveria finally broke in, having perhaps gained a glimmer of understanding of what we were talking about and appearing all the more confused because of it.
"We'll have a talk later in private, it's not that important right now." Loki waved the elf off, grabbing the paper she'd written my status on. "Have a look at your first Falna reading, Sirvolt!"
Strength- I0
Endurance- I0
Dexterity- I0
Agility- I0
Magic- I0
Skills:
Dimensional Breech: Allows for limited traversal between worlds.
Developmental Abilities: NA
Magic: NA
I took the sheet and held it up, unable to resist the smile that carved it's way across my face, until my cheeks ached from the force of it.
"That's what I like to see." Loki cheered, reaching down to gently pinch my cheek, her eyes on my face. "Welcome to the Loki Familia! Here's an order from your new goddess: I wanna see a bunch more smiles, just like that. You go it?"
"Understood, Lady Loki." I nodded in agreement. That was a command I was more than happy to obey.