Times New Roman 13 – Interlude 1
Land Of Shadows - Beyond Time
Scáthach
In a castle at the far edges of the universe, sitting on the ornate throne in the courtyard overlooking her domain, a woman of immaculate beauty peers through the void, watching in mild amusement as her student is living his best life.
"Aka Manah, the demon of evil intentions, it seems that old players are making new moves. Turbulent times ahead, student, turbulent times."
With a languid motion, she waves her hand, and a keg of wine pops into existence. A small application of her magic makes the liquid flow out, refilling her cup. Through the small portal, the clashing of weapons and the sound of explosions are easily recognizable.
Humming slightly to herself while appreciating the taste of wine, she speaks in an approving tone. "It is good to be young, finding pleasure in fighting stronger foes."
"An eclectic group of friends you have gathered around yourself, student, and what camaraderie you have all fostered already. It brings a tear to my eye." She mutters into her cup, continuing her alcohol-fueled voyeuristic tendencies.
Through the portal, swearing is heard, followed closely by mocking laughter. "Still immature in your usage of magics." She clicks her tongue disapprovingly. "This will be rectified the next time you visit." Her voice takes a sharp edge.
"Sacred lance, removing restraints."
"Your anchor is an interesting one, swinging around a building as if it were a weapon." Her tinkling laugh echoes through the otherwise empty courtyard, which, for the first time in centuries, has seen real activity.
"So much potential in such a tiny slip of a girl." Her voice takes on an almost avaricious tone. "The heights she could reach under my tutelage would shake the world." She peers to the side, her eyes taking on a mystical hue, then shakes her head and returns to watching the battle. "Your 'spear' might prevent me from peering at your future directly, but I can see your empty outline next to my student as clear as day." Smirking to herself, she murmurs, "I will test your mettle myself."
"No!"
"Well, well, well, the holy nail which later became the Iron Crown of Lombardy. Ironic that the victim of mind control gets one of the strongest in that field." She muses at the twists in the battle, enraptured by the potential being unearthed in crisis.
"Still, continuously getting hit by soul-manipulating attacks is something else." She shakes her head at the circumstances her student finds himself in. Soul-based attacks are fairly uncommon, yet he has been hit by two different ones back to back.
"...myniad!!!"
She whistles softly. "It is impressive how much power that silly little thing actually packs." As she waits for the vision to clear, she sees them all standing there, looking around in elation at how they not only survived but also defeated a foe who, by all rights, should have had the advantage.
"Well done, my student, you have broken through your first true hurdle." Her beautiful face is awash with pride. "But you are not ready yet for the big leagues. Let this teacher handle it for you, just this once." Her tone hardens as runes spring to life, blinking into existence around the courtyard at the same time that multiple prying eyes try descending on the island where a titanic amount of holy energy has appeared.
"Witch, you truly have a new student." An aged voice resounds in the courtyard as his spell is redirected. With it comes a presence, not one of power but one of immediate understanding and wisdom.
"All-Father, you are here too? Sounds like she decided to truly come out of the woodwork again. Haah, that is going to cause so much trouble. Can't all you old monsters retire peacefully?" A tired-sounding voice responds, sighing and grumbling about all the changes this will bring.
"This all seems like something my master should be very interested in. I have only cast my little stalking eye because of an old fondness for my organization, but apparently, there is more to it." A third voice interjects, giving off a creepy and slimy feeling.
The other portals remain silent, observing without commenting. Their silence does not indicate any less interest in the proceedings, yet they are more cautious in the face of such a change.
With a no-nonsense tone, she starts off the terms she wants. "Good, this is what is going to happen. My student completed his first adventure with a tad too much enthusiasm." Her full confirmation that she has taken a new student sends minor ripples of acknowledgment from all parties, tinged with a hint of concern.
"Too much enthusiasm? Talk about the understatement of the century." The tired voice butts in, causing Scáthach to pause in mild irritation.
"Shut up, crow. Do not piss her off, the bitch is terrifying." The All-Father's shuddering voice comes through, causing Scáthach's lips to curl in amusement as she focuses on that particular portal. Raising an eyebrow, she asks, "Bitch?"
"You know what I said. You might be beautiful and have a great body, but you're a monster in human skin." He scoffs, his voice betraying old traumas that have not fully healed after all this time.
"Returning to the subject at hand, his 'adventuring party' used a, let us call it, nuclear option in dealing with their problem." She silently laughs, thinking to herself that his new-age lingo is going to be hilarious to use. "This strength is not their baseline and is not how they will be measured. I will not stop you from trying to contact him or whatever, but the kid gloves stay on for now." Her words are final, brokering no argument.
"Even if that is not their base power, how do we know they will not point it recklessly at the kids in our factions? They might think it is an easy solution." The slimy voice responds with sharpness, clearly apprehensive about how her student and his group would react to his faction.
The other two scoff audibly in disdain, instantly recognizing the hesitation in agreeing to the demands. "If you do not want them to point their big, fuck-off beam at your younger generation, tell them not to offer a slave collar to them." Azazel turns a bit more serious from his usual laid-back tone.
"What the crow said. Or do it like him and send mooks who do not mean anything and are easily replaceable." Odin replies while taking stray shots at the Governor General.
"At some point, stupidity is just natural selection. If my underlings cannot follow basic orders, they are literally killing themselves." Azazel does not even bother denying it or giving any indication that he is not going to continue prodding at her student.
"Whatever, it's not like I'm making the final decision anyway. I'll have my master decide on the correct course of action." Without bothering with keeping up his manners, the creepy-sounding one closes his end of the scrying and vanishes.
"Yeah, yeah, I agree. I'll keep Penemue around and send some more low-level mooks, keep it kid-friendly and all that." Without preamble, he also leaves, understanding that there is nothing to gain here.
"You spruced up the place nicely, very modern." Odin starts casually, causing her to roll her eyes at his age-old song and dance. "I can feel it when I am not wanted." He laughs heartily at their interactions always following the same pattern. "But he probably won't meet with my people anytime soon, I was just curious about how familiar he looks~" And with an annoying lilt, he disconnects the call as well.
She focuses her eyes on the three non responsive portals. "Want to chime in, or do you accept the terms?" Still demanding, never asking.
A male voice responds after a short pause, his tone like chimes in the wind, tinkling yet serious, with an undertone of kindness. "Heaven will not interfere." With the sound of harmonious voices singing in prayer, the Archangel leaves as well, leaving only two left to deal with.
But that doesn't mean the church will do the same. She expected some kind of half-hardheartedness like that, so she doesn't call out his hypocrisy. The last two take a while, neither willing to start.
After a good moment, one of them finally decides to talk.
"Are you truly back?" A voice filled with power yet youthful asks. "Are you going to fully involve yourself with the world again?" A rare hesitation in his voice, especially from someone like him.
She smiles ruefully. Having trained his son, she has a tiny bit more patience with him. Not enough to tolerate this kind of nonsense though. "Are you going deaf as well now? I haven't left the Land of Shadow in all these times. I'm not going to either, at least not anytime soon."
"Very well, that's all I wished to know. Farewell, Scáthach." She doesn't deign to respond.
"Then there was one."
...
"I tire of your games, Heavenly Emperor." For the first time since the discussion started, she stands up. Her spear is already in hand, ready to engage in combat if pressed further.
"Peace, witch." He starts off with a drawl as he appears in a maelstrom of energy radiating a pressure that dwarfs all the others with ease. "I just wished to see your intentions, what's with you shielding the anomaly and all that."
"Stop pretending as if you hadn't foreseen this already. Your sight should have made you aware of the change once it happened." Always uncompromising. "Why are you here? If you don't want something, you'd never be seen."
He rolls his eyes sarcastically, confirming her words easily. "You know me so well, witch." His voice never changes from that sarcastic drawl. "My pet project is sooner or later going to clash with your boytoy, and even if the change he brings is for the better, I don't want him to get uppity and take what's not his." He pauses here, taking a second before continuing, as if having to voice the words grates on his very being. "Doing it like this will take the least amount of trouble."
"Hah!" She barks out a laugh at his demeanor. "The God of War doesn't want trouble. Don't make me laugh."
His demeanor shifts to irritation. "Now it's you who should stop playing games, witch. You of all people should be able to see the ripples." His voice raises for the first time, the irritation of having to go about his plans in such a roundabout way evident.
"Fine, do we have an armistice?"
"We aren't on opposite sides, witch, but you know that already." He actually sighs, for better or worse, dealing with her is always a chore. "For what it's worth, I won't go out of my way to seek trouble for him, as long as he keeps to his lane."
"Then we have a truce. You know where the exit is." She gestures slowly toward the still-connected portal.
His entire posture changes, back to the laid-back attitude signaling that he has achieved his goal. The charade over and done with, he no longer needs to posture. With a cheeky wave and salute, he steps back into the maelstrom of energy and returns whence he came.
"Fucking Indra." She sighs tiredly. His sight is of a magnitude higher than hers. Dealing with a prepared him is the worst.
With the herd of cats pacified for the moment, she can finally return to her newest favorite pastime. Watching her student arrive at all the correct end results but for all the wrong reasons.
His preconceived notions and otherworldly values are driving him to act in ways that upset the balance, and all those changes are going to possibly tip the scale. It will bring about an age of chaos, but the possibilities that can emerge from his meddling are endless. She is all for it, the glimpses she has seen are going to be exciting. Exciting enough to get her blood boiling already. Still, she can wait a few more years. No need to rush a good thing after all, savoring his journey will be enough... for now.
As she peers through the crack again, she can see the four of them huddled together. Three of them revel in the win, content with completing their mission. The last of them is bawling her eyes out, hugging the other three with all her might as if they might disappear if she lets them go.
Yet as she watches more closely, those are not tears of sadness but of happiness instead. Because at this moment, the young girl understands that it is not her family by blood that she cherishes, but the ones who kept her close even while she was pushing them away.
In the here and now, she has been reborn and a cruel fate has been averted. A new beginning is about to start for her, one she can embrace with a spirit free of the burdens of her birth.
And The Fool has answered the call.
She smiles to herself as she sees the apparition appear behind the girl and hears the archaic voice from beyond time call out, binding their fate together even stronger.
Her magic powers billow out, causing the entirety of The Land of Shadows to quake in its intensity. She focuses all her magical prowess into enhancing her sight temporarily, attempting to peer at whatever is attempting to rewrite the story. Sadly, even with all her attainments, she can't see a thing.
No glimpses are found, yet her gambit is not in vain, as just before her attempt is finished, she feels compelled to look behind her. Her eyes widen in surprise at what she sees. "The Hermit, huh." And she starts laughing uproariously.
At the same time.
Azazel
"Get me Penemue here as soon as possible." I call out to my newest assistant. I go through those way too often nowadays. Getting competent help is a chore and a half, especially when most of the lower-ranked members of your faction are a bunch of chucklefucks.
Taking a moment to consider my options, I can easily deduce that antagonizing the witch over something as small as not messing with one person is most likely the best course of action.
I can keep Penemue there for now since she has been the main contact between us so far, so she does not fall under the new rules. But outright poaching is now a pipe dream. Maybe we can tempt them to visit the Nephilim Institute in the future, try and get them on more friendly terms with some of our own youth.
Those holy power readings were off the charts. I can only think of a handful of people and items capable of releasing that much at once. If we manage to get them to visit, that would be the best possible spot to introduce myself, and it will be the most 'organic' setting. I can try and finagle some information then and there.
There has been a lot of noise from within the Vatican as an investigation has begun. Apparently, the 'inquiries' by a secret service from the UK have kicked a hornet's nest, and their leaders are scrambling to make this latest scandal go away.
Haah, I wish I could send Baraqiel to investigate this. I feel there is an even deeper connection between our current hot potato and whatever is happening at the church.
But he is not really in the right state of mind for such a sensitive mission. Fucking Himejima.
"Chief Secretary Penemue is here, Governor General."
Ah, yes.
"Why have you called me back so urgently?" She elegantly barges in, slowly strides to the front of his desk, and slams the flat of her hands on top of it, displacing some of his research papers and letting them fall to the ground.
"Relax, Penny, you're not being called back permanently, only for this briefing." I lazily reply while rolling my eyes. It is always the same with her. Does great work until she finds her newest obsession, and suddenly none of her other tasks matter.
This causes her to pause and shamelessly switch back to her normal persona. At this point, after all these years working together, she does not even have the decency to act abashed anymore.
"You should've said so from the start. Can't believe you made me panic for a moment." Her tone of voice returns to a conversational pitch, and her 'outrage' vanishes like leaves in the wind.
"Whatever, that is not why I called you here. There has been a change in plans. Your mission is no longer recruitment but one of building a relationship between him and our faction."
Her eyes furrow in confusion, blindsided by this sudden change. Up to today, we had no reason to give such a soft sell, but because she decided to interfere directly, every interaction is now a bit more important.
"Why?" she simply asks, not refusing the change nor trying to go against it. Even if she still wants to play around, Penemue at least understands that we are not so secure that we can ignore all other factions.
"New information has been obtained. We thought he was a normal student of hers, but earlier today, she issued direct warnings to multiple individuals, myself included, about how he should be handled with kiddy gloves for now." That should be enough for now, no need to talk about how she browbeat multiple God-level combatants.
"Do I need to change how I interact with him?" She acquiesces easily. Why can't more of my subordinates be like her?
"No, you can still continue your little game." Honestly, that witch would not care a whit about that. "Just... don't push until it turns into a fight." For fuck's sake, I complimented you not even a few seconds ago, albeit in my head. But thinking about it, she is just as likely to do something outrageous.
"If that is all, you could've called me, you know. No need for the summons. I expected something a lot worse." She does not acknowledge my warning. This is going to go horribly wrong, I can feel it in my bones.
I sigh tiredly. Whatever, I have done my best. How bad can she realistically mess it up anyway? I wave her away. "Just go."
"Bye~"
At least she has good taste in her prey. Church dropouts are the best.
A.N. What do I call chapters written from a different POV, an interlude? I don't know what else I should call them.