Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Lucy Pov. – September 17 Pov.
I must admit it was… fun coming to Japan. Like us, Odin hadn't explored Japan at all. So we accompanied him on a tour.
Rebecca and I explored all of Japan with ease. It was… fun. It's… very different from the Japan back home. That Japan was an Arasaka stronghold. Most of its territory was privately owned by Arasaka, so their presence was everywhere, and impossible to ignore.
Because of that I wouldn't set foot anywhere in Japan, simply on principle. Even after we'd gotten rid of the Arasaka clan, my face was practically banned in Japan after I'd killed Saburo, and Aperture Science was, too. Japan was the place where we were least welcome.
Things were getting smoother, but it would be a long time before Japan would even allow me to set foot on Japanese soil without being shot on the spot.
Here… everything was different. This world was decades, if not centuries, behind technologically, and that greatly influenced its architecture. Some of these things made you feel likewe had been traveling back in time.
I had worked for Arasaka. We had been taught that everything we did was for the company. We had been taught the importance of Arasaka. Its history, its legacy, and everything related to it. And that included the history of Japan before Arasaka and all of that.
So many of the places we visited resembled the old photographs we'd seen during our training. And despite my disdain for Arasaka, I must say it was entertaining.
Especially the ability to finally spot the differences between the two worlds. It was truly impressive and surprisingly entertaining. It also gave us time to meet Rias Gremory's Peerage. Or rather, some of them.
Most of the girls were nice enough. Or well, much nicer than anyone you could meet in Night City, although, well, it was Night City, so the bar was set a little low.
Even so, I hadn't had any trouble working with the others. Asia seemed to want to thank us several times, and to thank Serena for saving her, and then she was terribly accommodating. It was strange.
The others were just as polite and friendly, though somewhat… I wouldn't say childish, they all had a certain air of maturity, but they were still teenagers. Rebecca got along with them faster than I did. On the other hand, I grew closer to Rossweisse as we worked. Talking to her was entertaining, even though the girl was terribly repressed. She definitely had to sleep with someone. I would mention it to her, but I was sure she would cry every time Odin brought it up.
So, it was an entertaining trip, except for one person.
I was more than tempted to burn the Red Dragon's eyes out more than once. Somehow, he'd managed to be worse than Pilar, and I thought no one could surpass him. But Issei Hyoudou was much worse. And somehow, Odin had surpassed them both at the same time. I was actually grateful to Sera for the threat of ruining his dick, so Odin ignored Rebecca and me.
At least he had the courtesy to pay for all the bar trips we took during the tour. Something Rebecca and I took full advantage of to drink copious amounts of alcohol. Something that surprised Rias and the others. Apparently, they thought we weren't old enough to drink. They were shocked to discover that I was 22 and Becca was 21. Something Rebecca didn't like, and she threatened them with her gun because they made insinuations about her height.
Even so, since we were practically the only adults in the group, besides Azazel and Barakiel, and they couldn't be around constantly, we were assigned as bodyguards whenever Odin wanted to visit bars or other adult establishments.
And speaking of Rebecca… she enjoyed exploring and seeing new things, like bars; in fact, she'd somehow become quite the drinking buddy for Odin. But most of the time, she was bored, though she didn't complain. Well, not much. After all, she'd wanted to come here from the start, so she couldn't just go and complain to Serena about standing guard without doing anything interesting. It was immensely amusing to watch her grumble.
Finally, we were traveling in a huge carriage pulled by a flying, eight-legged horse. Sleipnir. The fact that my first thought was to call Serena to register the horse in her Reality Marble, rather than being surprised by an eight-legged horse that could run on air, showed that I'd already gotten used to the whole supernatural world thing. I could only smile ironically at that.
I looked around and saw everyone was tired after another long trip through Japan. Some of them were dozing; in fact, Rebecca was asleep and drooling next to me, her head in my lap. I was staying awake thanks to Serena's medallion.
That was until the carriage lurched and Rebecca fell out of her seat, waking with a start.
"What the hell! Who was the damn Gonk who dropped me?!" Rebecca shouted, pulling out her Malorian and pointing it in all directions.
"I don't know, but this is never a good sign," Azazel said, standing and stepping out of the carriage. We all immediately followed him and stared at the figure floating in front of us. I narrowed my eyes. I guess this is how it starts. I glanced at Rebecca out of the corner of my eye, then used my Vanishing Step to envelop myself in Void and become invisible.
I watched as the figure revealed itself to be Loki and began arguing with the group. I stepped back and moved to a better vantage point. I pulled out a sniper rifle and carefully aimed it, taking slow, steady breaths.
Guns were never my thing; I felt more comfortable with my Monowire on my wrists and my Netrunning, but in my time playing Destiny, I had grown fond of sniper rifles; they had… their charm.
Even so, Netrunning was my life. As I looked at Loki through my rifle scope, my Aether Editing interface sprang to life, and I began hacking before I crashed headlong into the natural defenses of his existence.
I just grimaced. Hacking a god's existence was hundreds of times more complicated than hacking any other being I'd ever encountered. It's as if its code were written in a programming language completely foreign to me.
I licked my lips, stepped back slightly, and shifted position. I sat on the ground, raised my left knee, and rested my left arm on it for support before resting my rifle on that arm. Then, using my right hand, I placed it on the trigger as I aimed.
Despite using my left arm for support, I kept my left hand free; I couldn't move the rest of my arm, but I didn't need to. I created a holographic keyboard, kept pointing at Loki as he spoke, and began typing at a terrifying speed without even looking at it.
I kept looking through the rifle scope as my optics saw lines of code scroll rapidly, and I started working mentally. I felt my body cool slightly as I began radiating heat from all over, using more and more RAM.
GLaDOS had placed part of her system in my body, so my hardware was more than up to the task, even though I couldn't yet get the most out of it.
Unfortunately, I couldn't hack fast enough. I watched as Xenobia attacked Loki first, and Rebecca fired at him without a second thought. Neither attack had any effect; Loki didn't even have a scratch. I smiled slightly, then pulled the trigger. I felt the heavy recoil. My stance wasn't ideal for holding my position, and I would have completely collapsed if I didn't have supernatural strength to cushion the powerful recoil.
Loki looked up as the shot whizzed past him, his eyes widening and his body shifting slightly. My shot grazed his cheek, leaving a slight cut. Loki brought his hand to his cheek and saw the blood on his fingers.
I smiled slightly. If the enemy was a god, why not use a god to attack?
One had to love paracausal weapons, especially those made from murdered gods.
Whisper of the Worm was one of them.
Xol, Will of the Thousands. He was one of the Worm Gods of Destiny. Once he died, that wasn't the end for him. Because, obviously, physical death meant nothing to a Worm God. Xol drew power from Sword Logic and the Darkness, and tested the Guardians.
When the Guardians proved worthy hosts, Xol transformed into a weapon to feed on their deaths. Whisper of the Worm was nowhere near as powerful as Xol, Will of the Thousands had been in life, but it was still a weapon crafted by a god, not to be underestimated.
And it had been strong enough to hurt Loki. To my surprise, Loki started laughing, then raised his hand in my direction. I was about to move when I saw Issei transform, then launch himself at Loki.
Loki unleashed a massive blast of power as Issei fired a full-power Dragon Shot. Both attacks collided and exploded. The shockwave knocked Issei back, and I seized the opportunity. Even with the blast, I could still see Loki, so I fired again.
Loki stepped aside once more, and my shot grazed his shoulder, leaving another line of blood.
"Girl! Keep doing that! " Azazel exclaimed in my direction. Loki just laughed.
"Truly impressive! I don't know who you are, devil, but you're truly amazing. To think the Red Dragon would be the least of my problems!" Loki laughed amusedly.
"Oi!" Issei complained, almost offended. Loki just laughed.
"Come out, my lovely child!" Loki finally exclaimed loudly, and space seemed to tear as a chasm appeared. A huge ash-gray wolf emerged. I was far away. Dozens of meters away. Yet I felt a chill from the immense pressure Fenrir exerted.
Damned monster.
I saw Loki order Fenrir to attack Rias because of her connection to Sirzechs. Fenrir disappeared at great speed and reappeared in front of Rias, ready to attack, but Issei's fist struck its head, saving her. However, the punch had no effect; it only drew Fenrir's attention.
"Move it, gonk!" Rebecca yelled, kicking Issei away from Fenrir's grasp. "Let's play, doggy, doggy!" Rebecca laughed uproariously and didn't even hesitate to draw her Gjallarhorn and fire it point-blank at Fenrir, right in his face. Multiple explosions from the micro-missiles rang out.
Fenrir moved his paw with terrifying speed, unconcerned. I grimaced, seeing the attack hadn't done the slightest damage, not even to the enormous wolf's fur. Rebecca growled, jumped back, and tossed the missile launcher aside.
I changed my target. I ignored Loki and fired at Fenrir several times while I focused on hacking him. It was all in vain. His resistance was far higher than Loki's; even Whisper of the Worm had no effect, and his existential defense was much greater than Loki's.
Even so, I tried to get used to his language, even if only slightly. Rebecca dodged Fenrir once more, or at least tried to; Fenrir was much faster than Rebecca. Rebecca growled, the Void Light exploding around her as she created a small, dense protective dome, a bubble-like shield that tried to defend itself.
I remained completely still as Fenrir's attack collided with Rebecca's Ward of Dawn for a few seconds; I almost thought it would hold, but Fenrir finally pierced through. My eyes widened as I watched Rebecca being cut in half.
"Rebecca!!" I heard several panicked screams as Rebecca's body hit the ground. I clicked my tongue, put away Whisper of the Worm, and turned invisible as I approached again.
[Hald Dimension]
Space distorted around Fenrir as Vali suddenly appeared. Fenrir howled and moved away.
"Oh, so you're the White Dragon Emperor," Loki said playfully. Loki just frowned at Rebecca. "Sorry, was that someone you knew? It's their fault for standing up to Fenrir," Loki said mockingly. Vali looked up at Loki.
"I'm going to eliminate you," Vali said, narrowing his eyes slightly. Loki just smiled even more widely.
"I'm satisfied for now. I'll leave for today. I'll return on the day of the gods' meeting. Don't forget." Loki said playfully before creating a great distortion in space and disappearing with Fenrir.
Everyone seemed to move immediately.
"Asia! Can you heal her?!" Rias asked in a panic as she approached Rebecca.
"I-I'm sorry, b-but I can't heal her, she-she-" Asia tried to say, almost sobbing. I snorted, walked over, and shoved them by the shoulder to pull them away from Rebecca. Then I looked at her before snorting again. I saw Rebecca's body ripped in half. Her insides spilled out onto the floor; I could see huge holes where Fenrir's claws had definitely ripped through her.
I almost wanted to whistle in awe. I could see why Serena would find Fenrir dangerous, and actually useful to use as a sacrifice for a Campione; those things had pierced Rebecca's defenses and her Light like paper.
And that was saying something. Saint-14's Ward of Dawn had stopped the Witness's attacks multiple times during the final battle. The other guardians' Wards of Dawn had withstood attacks from other gods as well. To see it pierced so quickly and easily by Fenrir said a lot.
"Wake up already." I told Rebecca as I pushed her body with my foot.
"Girl…" Azazel said, putting a hand on my shoulder and trying to push me away.
"On behalf of the Norse pantheon, I apologize for your loss at the hands of Loki. I will personally apologize to Lady Prince." Odin said with a sad expression as he approached. I rolled my eyes.
"Rebecca, get up right now." I kicked her again. Azazel's grip tightened, and I tried to push him away.
"Girl, she's gone now; she was bitten by Fenrir. I know it's hard—" Azazel clamped his mouth shut as Rebecca's Evil Piece glowed and floated slightly. A pulse of light enveloped us before Rebecca's corpse vanished and reformed before us.
"That fucking Gonk son of a bitch killed me! I'm going to rip his fucking cock off with his own teeth and then shove it down his throat so deep it'll come out of his ass and make him fuck himself before I blow his fucking head off and scatter his fucking guts all over the underworld!" Rebecca exclaimed furiously and indignantly, waving her hands. Everyone fell silent, staring at her in disbelief. "What are you looking at, gonks?!" Rebecca growled. I chuckled.
"Y-you-" Rias tried to say, confused, as her finger trembled slightly.
"Me?" Rebecca growled furiously.
"A zombie!" Issei exclaimed, pointing at Rebecca.
"Ah?! What did you call me, gonk?!" Rebecca growled as she pulled out her Malorian and pointed it at Issei's head.
"I'm sorry!" Issei squealed immediately as he backed away.
"Tch." Rebecca grumbled, backing away, ignoring Issei and looking around. "Where's that idiot Loki? Did he escape? Damn it, I felt like getting revenge." Rebecca growled.
"Can we go back to the fact that you were dead?" Azazel said tensely. Rebecca just glanced at him sideways.
"Yes? That's it." Rebecca said nonchalantly.
"You were dead," Azazel said once more.
"Dah," Rebecca said, as if it were obvious. "I was dead, not anymore," she said, shrugging as she sheathed her Malorian. "I thought it was common knowledge that we could regenerate," Rebecca scoffed. "Now, I have to go prepare to get revenge on that oversized dog," she snorted.
"No, no, no, wait," Azazel said quickly. "Regeneration is one thing. Even with the Phenex's, if its body is destroyed, it doesn't truly die. Someone with enough observational skills can see and sense that Phenex don't really die."
"But you died. Completely and literally. Especially since you were killed by Fenrir, the god-eating wolf-dog, not even gods can survive him. I couldn't feel anything from you; you were totally dead. How... how did you come back to life? " Azazel asked incredulously.
"The crow is right, girl. It should be impossible. I've seen Fenrir's victims die from wounds less severe than yours, and it's nearly impossible to deceive my eye. You were dead," Odin said gravely. Rebecca stared blankly, confused, then shrugged.
"Yeah, I have nothing for you. I was dead, not anymore, that's all," Rebecca said simply. I could see Azazel's incredulous look. I just chuckled.
"The Light," I said simply. Everyone turned to look at me. "The Light that connects us to Serena keeps us alive. Besides being able to use it as a weapon, the Light heals and regenerates us; even when we die, we are resurrected immediately," I said easily. Azazel remained completely still.
"She... revives you? Can Serena revive people with her Light? " Azazel asked, extremely dizzy, as he took a step back. I shrugged.
"Yes. Only for us, and it's not easy to replicate. The Evil Piece acts as a conduit for Serena's Light. It revives us automatically. But only her Peerage. She can't use it on other people unless an Evil Piece connects it to her. I think it has something to do with souls or something like that? I don't know the details, only that she can't do it for anyone but us. At least for now." I said easily. Azazel just looked at me and shook his head.
"That... is impossible." Azazel said, shaking his head almost fervently.
"Sounds like Skill Issues from you, Gonks, Serena did it." Rebecca said with an arrogant smile. Azazel just stared at us.
"She must be using something else. Several Sacred Gears could allow it. Or she's even using the Evil Pieces' healing function after a recent death. Resurrection with just... Light is impossible." Azazel said, almost in denial.
"No, without Sacred Gear, we can actually remain dead. We can avoid reviving under certain circumstances and stay dead for a long time without any problem. The Light will revive us regardless. No matter how or when we died." I said, shrugging. Azazel stared at me, then sighed.
"Just... let's go," Azazel said, almost sufferingly. I just shrugged; I wasn't going to argue with him. I had a lot to catch up on. I still had part of Fenrir's and Loki's code; I had a few days to study and understand it.
"Hey! Baby Saja, you're here!" Rebecca exclaimed happily in Vali's direction. Vali's friends burst out laughing. I just shook my head in amusement.
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