Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely a fanfic for enjoyment.
Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.
The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.
"Speech"
Time*
Chapter 63: Okay, I Can't Kill It
A few minutes later*
"Holy shit, my luck is awful!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, sprinting like a madman with both Momoyo and Ryoko slung over my shoulders, one on each side, as I barreled down the road fast enough to leave everyone behind.
"Why would you say that?!" Ryoko yelled, her voice barely audible over the roaring wind.
"Maybe because your so-called bodyguards just mutated into grotesque monsters and are now trying to kill us?!" Momoyo snapped next, her voice laced with venom and panic. "Also, why the hell aren't we fighting them, Chikao?!"
I grit my teeth, narrowly dodging a couple of trash cans as I shouted back, "Because those bastards are suicide bombers! One fatal hit is enough to trigger their innate ability of self-explosion that could obliterate everything within a mile! And that's just one of them, let alone more than a few!"
The air reeked of ozone, gasoline, and something coppery—blood, maybe—something worse in the air.
"I'd gladly vaporize them and not care about the collateral, but right now I have reasons to care, temporarily!"
Behind me, one of the mutated bodyguards twitched violently—its left forearm splitting open to reveal a jagged, gnashing mouth.
Another vision, similar to the one that pushed me to leave instead of fighting, flickers in my mind as a glimpse of the explosion tearing through everything, driving me to push harder and move faster.
Note to self: Make more charms from higher Sequences. Preferably, the deadlier Pathways. Time, effort, materials—it'd all be worth it for the current me.
"Chikao! One of them nearly bit my face off! And I like having a face!" Momoyo screamed, swinging an elbow back with enough force to send the creature tumbling over its own grotesque limbs. "Do you have any idea what's going on?!"
"No idea!" I lied through my teeth. "Might want to ask Ryoko here! After all, she's the one who brought them!"
"I do my best to stay away from the supernatural world as much as possible! I am a normal, human woman, thank you very much!" Ryoko screams, her voice cracking. "I leave that to my mother!"
I took a sharp turn down a cracked intersection, leaping over a shireking cat that had darted out of an alleyway at the absolute worst moment of its life. Behind me, one of the mutated bodyguards crashed face-first into the feline with a sickening crunch, toppling over it in a mess of limbs and bone-like protrusions.
"Seriously, what did we do to make these guys want to kill us?!" Ryoko shrieked again, panic rising in her voice.
"I'd love to know that myself!" I shouted back, squinting into the distorted mess that passed for a cityscape. The world twisted and shimmered just slightly wrong—like looking through cracked glass. I did my best to ignore the telltale signs of the Sefirot: City of Calamity, which had begun bleeding into reality, projecting semi-illusions across my vision.
Only the faint, stubborn Spirituality coming from the Fool Pathway was keeping me grounded. That and the support of the other two Pathways: Error and Door were the only reasons I haven't succumbed to the negative aspects of this Sefriot.
Once again, and I'll keep saying it, my luck is absolute shit.
How the hell was I supposed to know the City of Calamity would flare up randomly and start corrupting the damn bodyguards out of the blue instead of outright killing them?! There were no signs, no warnings. Just casual promixity and boom, full-blown corruption mutation outbreak.
The only silver lining in this whole nightmarish mess?
The other Sefirot aren't active right now.
Which, honestly, is its own problem. Because when they wake up and decide to join the party, we're all screwed in very different ways.
An hour later*
"Where are we? And we won't have to worry about those creatures anytime soon, right?" Momoyo asked, eyeing our surroundings while I bent over, hands on my knees, taking deep, controlled breaths to calm myself. "Also, can't you just teleport us somewhere safe instead of hauling us around and running like headless chickens, Chikao?"
"No idea." I exhale. "And yes, we won't have to worry about them—temporarily, that is." I drew in another long breath through my nose, steadying the rush in my chest. "And yes, I can teleport us, but I won't, not now at least. It's not a good time." I frown as the warning I'm getting from my Spirituality from all three Pathways, instead of just one. "Something much worse would happen if I did."
"Great...! We're in the middle of nowhere, stuck in some abandoned town, and we won't be able to go home anytime soon!" Momoyo huffs, stomping the ground hard enough to send cracks spiderwebbing through the pavement beneath her feet.
"I think we have a bigger problem at hand." Ryoko said in a serious tone. "If those monsters are still in town, there's going to be major chaos in both the supernatural world and the mundane world. Especially the latter, as I don't even think any mundane weapons could scratch those things."
"Not our problems." I said flatly.
Ryoko turned to me with a sharp frown.
"What?" I raised an eyebrow at Ryoko. "Momoyo and I aren't some kind of enforcers or whatever. I'm just some random high school nurse while Momoyo is a student going into her final school year." I jabbed a thumb at Momjoyo for emphasis. "Sure, I could've done something. If I had time to prepare to deal with those monsters. But I didn't. And if anything, I saved our asses by not fighting and choosing to run. We survived. That's what matters."
"Now, that you mention it... How did you even know those things would explode anyway?" Ryoko said slowly, staring at me really hard.
"Chikao here is a legit Seer." Momoyo cut in, casually, brushing her hair back like she'd just mentioned I was mildly good at cooking.
"Okay, then, do you happen to see anything to fix this mess? Or at least some kind of solution to deal with those things before everything spirals even further out of control?" Ryoko asks me, frowning as she no longer glares at me like I was the mastermind behind those mutated bodyguards.
Which was ironic. Because, technically? I am the mastermind behind this. All this, just because I possess the Sefirot: City of Calamity.
Not that I was ever going to say that out loud.
It's already bad enough that Alucard knows about my whole soul-leaving-the-body thing whenever I enter the Sefirah Castle. That alone is a walking security leak I'll need to patch up one of these days, preferably before she decides to make a scene about it.
And then, there's Amaterasu—another buttload of problems alone.
"Not seeing any visions at the moment." I said with a shrug. "As for any solution... well, I'm just one person. But it's fine, though, since we have plenty of factions, organizations, secret societies, cults, exorcists, and god-knows-what in the supernatural world who should have enough experience to deal with this kind of thing for a living."
At least, I hope so...
A long, tense pause followed, broken by one question that actually matters right now.
"Well, that's fine and all.. but what now?" Momoyo asked, arms crossed, brow raised. "Do we go look for one of the better intact buildings around here, crash for the night, and then just head back to town in the morning. After everyone else has conveniently dealt with the mess we've left behind?"
"Not like there's much we could do now..." Ryoko lets out a tired sigh, rubbing her forehead. "Honestly, if I'd just talked to my mother and let you two in from the start instead of making you wait outside the mansion... none of this would've happened."
I stared at Ryoko blankly for a moment, then slowly turned my gaze away.
"Too late for that." Momoyo mutters under her breath.
Without waiting, Momoyo looks around and starts walking in a random direction, toward the nearest building that looks somewhat cleaner than the rest, or at least structurally intact.
"Anyway, let's find a place before we do anything else." She paused just outside the doorframe and glanced over her shoulder. "By the way, Chikao. While you were running around like a lunatic with us slung over your shoulders, did you happen to see any sign that told us the name of this abandoned town?"
I briefly switched out the Card of Door for the Card of Paragon, feeling the Beyonder abilities of this Pathway. Then, I switched back just as quickly.
"Nope." I replied dully. "Didn't see any signs. Either way, I'll make sure to set things up to prevent anything unnatural from getting near us, let alone touching us while we're sleeping." I reached for the door and tapped into Door Opening; the lock clicked, opening easily as I held it for Momoyo.
She walked in without hesitation.
"Well, don't expect much from me." Ryoko added, following close behind. "I'm only good for specific things, and none of them involve fighting off mutant suicide monsters or setting up magical security systems."
I stepped in last, closing the door behind me as I locked it.
"Don't worry, I won't." I roll my eyes at Ryoko as we begin exploring the place.
There wasn't much to go by. The house was dusty—obviously abandoned for years. A thick layer of grime coated the floorboards, and forgotten belongings were scattered across the ground like remnants of a life someone had tried to leave behind.
The layout was simple: a living room with sagging furniture, a dining room with an overturned table, and a kitchen with many stains whose source I don't want to know. Upstairs, we found three bedrooms and a single shared bathroom. All of it untouched. Quiet. Empty.
"Not even rats dare live here." Ryoko scoffed, kicking aside a cracked ceramic plate. "I bet they'd end up eating each other. And even then, it wouldn't be enough. They'd still starve to death with nothing left to feed on."
I didn't say anything as I stepped into one of the bedrooms, the master bedroom, judging by its size compared to the other two.
I wait until Momoyo and Ryoko enter before I quietly shut the door behind them. Without a word, I got to work, setting up walls of Spirituality. Boundaries that would keep anything that can't be seen by the naked eye from slipping in while we slept.
I could feel Ryoko's eyes on me, watching with a mix of curiosity and unease, but I ignored her.
Instead, I focused on preparing the next phase: taking out the materials from my backpack needed to perform the rituals specifically for protection. We weren't lying down on the bed, or even the floor, until I was absolutely sure the place was secure.
Naturally, the first thing I did was cleanse the bedroom.
Not manually, of course. Please, I had no intention of touching centuries-old grime and who-knows-what. One ritual was all it took to sweep the filth out of existence, the air growing subtly clearer as the ritual took place.
Once that's done, I debate about performing a ritual with Amaterasu in mind.