Chapter Text
“Hey everyone!!”
“Sup.”
The two newest talents in Hololive arrived. Gura, Ina, and Amelia all just kinda stared at them. The newbies were taller than they expected.
Calliope Mori, the Reaper, as Emersyn had said before, looked very intense. Her skin was pale, almost pink looking in hue. She carried with her an absolutely massive scythe that made everyone in the room glad she wasn’t their enemy. Ina did notice that there was something off about her, though.
Takanashi Kiara, the Phoenix, was as bright as a living thing could be. Maybe not literally bright, but everything about her exuded happiness and a care-free attitude. On her belt was a sword and shield that almost looked like a toy. However, something about the tools made them seem just as dangerous as Calliope’s scythe.
“Hello, Ms. Mori and Ms. Takanashi,” Emersyn said, bluntly. Her expression hadn’t so much as twitched when the two arrived. It was incredible that someone could be so stoic in face of such mythical beings. Then again, she was powerful in her own right. Both her katana and words hit just as hard as any attack from anyone in that room.
“H-hi…” To everyone’s surprise, Ina was the next one to greet the new members. All eyes fell on her and she quickly retreated behind the arm of the couch as best she could. Kiara wouldn’t let her escape so easily. The Phoenix approached with rapid speed.
“Hey there! You are…Ina’nis right? You’re a Priestess. I have never seen one so calm and collected. Normally they're all like, RAAH!” she threw her arms out to the sides of her in combination with her scream. Tiny embers scattered around the room, thankfully not lighting anything on fire in the process.
“Kusotori, I don’t think this place is flame-proof. We don’t want an accident right away,” Calliope beat Emersyn to criticize Kiara’s actions. Though, the words didn’t sound hurtful.
“Oh sorry, right.” Kiara backed away from the couch, letting the three girls on it breathe a sigh of relief.
“Um, my name is Gawr Gura. I’m probably the last Atlantean in the world,” Gura introduced herself next. Kiara gazed off in thought for a moment.
“I’ve met a few Atlanteans before, but that was a long time ago. I guess that explains why I haven’t seen any recently.” Gura’s mood soured slightly. She’d just gotten done grappling with her past, it was a little too soon to be thinking about it again.
“Hi, I’m Amelia Watson-”
“I know who you are,” Calliope interrupted Amelia’s introduction. The time traveler narrowed her eyes on the other girl. “You’re the reason why we’re here.” She gestured to both herself and Kiara, who was now mindlessly wandering around the room looking at everything.
“So that’s who you were always talking about,” Emersyn mumbled. Calliope paid no attention to her.
“Now, I want your self-introduction to be more detailed than the other two. We need to know who you are, what you’re doing here, how you got here, and why you’re here.” Calliope was concise with her demands. Amelia tried not to roll her eyes out of frustration.
“I’m Amelia Watson,” she started back up again, “I’m a stranded time traveler from another timeline. I had an accident a few years ago and ended up here. I want to eventually go back home…” she trailed off near the end. Calliope didn’t look satisfied with her answer. However, Kiara interjected before the Reaper could get a word out.
“So that’s what that feeling was.” Amelia and the rest of the girls on the couch jolted in fright when the Phoenix spoke so loudly from directly behind them. All three turned around and looked at her.
“What feeling?” Amelia asked in return.
“It was like I was being told someone new was here. Like I was in the presence of someone else. Honestly, it was kinda scary!” Kiara hugged herself, mocking the fright.
“That’s certainly not the whole story, though, Watson.” Calli pulled everyone’s attention back to her. “I would like it if you explained exactly how you got here.” Amelia bit her lip and looked over at her manager. Emersyn looked back at her, ready to deny Calliope’s request if she needed to. Amelia stood up and stared down the Reaper. She sighed after a moment.
“Maybe it is time I actually tell you all what happened.” Gura and Ina both looked at her with worry.
“You don’t have to-”
“I-It’s ok if you-”
“I’m fine,” Amelia interrupted their concerns. “But I’m not doing this for you.” She pointed her finger at the Reaper, who crossed her arms in response. God, that scythe was huge.
Amelia started her tale of how she arrived in this timeline. She spoke of the horror she felt when the Priestess chased her and her family down the streets of Venice. She described the guilt she felt over not being able to save any of them. She talked about how she abused her time watch to try to cope with those feelings of loss and how it Destabilized the timeline. She said how her and that timeline’s Ina came to the conclusion that the only way out of their situation was to break the Droplet.
But she never talked about her other motive for time traveling around recklessly.
Her very large crush on one Gawr Gura.
When she was finished, she allowed herself to observe the expressions of the people listening to her story.
Gura had her jaw hung open.
Ina was thinking incredibly hard.
Kiara looked like she was ready to cry.
Calliope seemed indifferent to the whole thing.
Emersyn looked as concerned as she’d ever looked since Amelia had met her.
It was obvious that the story had been powerful.
“Ameliaaaaa!” Kiara came actually crying over to the blonde and hugged her tightly.
“C-can’t breathe,” Amelia wheezed out. Ina looked over at Gura, remembering a time when the Atlantean had underestimated her hugging strength.
“Sorry!” Kiara said quickly, loosening the hug. She didn’t let go, though. “I was just so sad to hear what you’ve had to go through. It’s ok. It’s ok,” she actually started to pet the top of Amelia’s head, “It’s all fine now. I’ll help you get back there.”
Amelia didn’t know whether or not to feel comforted in her current situation. It was obviously Kiara’s intent, but it was also so awkward. The atmosphere soon began to match Amelia’s own feelings.
“Kusotori, I still have words with her,” Calli finally spoke up. Kiara shot away from Amelia and pulled her hand up in a salute.
“Right!” Calli sighed before turning back to the time traveler.
“My condolences for you and your family. However, I must say that you still aren’t telling the whole truth.” Amelia’s brow furrowed again and she frowned heavily. Did this Reaper have mind reading powers or something?
“Don’t call me a liar after I just told you all that,” she bit her tongue to not lash out at the other girl in anger.
“Didn’t you hear how sad that was, Calli? Why would she be lying?!” Kiara cried to her friend.
“I would appreciate it, Ms. Mori, if you didn’t accuse someone who just let themselves become vulnerable for the sake of explaining themselves of lying,” Emersyn said in just one breath. Gura and Ina also wanted to say something, but neither could match the power of their manager. Both of them let the words go unspoken, but still gave harsh looks at the Reaper.
“I see. Then show me to my room. I have nothing else to say,” she kinda asked Emersyn. The manager sighed and led both Calliope and Kiara out of the lounge.
“That was so rude of her!”
“I know right?”
Both Gura and Ina finally let their grievances out towards Calliope. It pissed them both off that she would just come in here and begin demanding things like that. Neither of them had pried into Amelia’s past like that since they knew it was painful for her to talk about. They’d only gotten brief descriptions of specific events, never the whole story.
Amelia didn’t know how to respond. On the one hand, she wanted to tell her friends about the true reason she’d fucked up her own timeline so badly. But on the other, she knew it would only create a void between all three of them. It would be best for her to keep quiet about it for now.
“It’s fine. I’m a little angry with her, but she’ll mellow out eventually. Maybe she was just nervous and wanted to put on a tough front?” Amelia pushed the topic away from her past. Gura giggled slightly.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was true, Ame.” Ina started to laugh a little, followed by Amelia soon after. The mood in the room significantly lightened.
“Alright, I think you need some food.” Amelia nodded towards the Atlantean. A well timed grumble of Gura’s stomach confirmed Amelia’s statement.
“Huh, I haven’t eaten yet today. I haven’t eaten yet today!” Gura put her hands to her face in slight panic. Ina patted her friend on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry, let’s go get some.” With a little more laughter, the group stood up and ventured off to find Gura some food to eat.
“So that’s why you were so scared of me…” Ina mentioned quietly. Gura was happily eating in the small kitchen the building had. Her and Amelia sat in the lounge once again after Ina had asked her to join her there.
“Yeah, I just saw that thing that killed my parents,” Amelia didn’t look Ina in the eyes. “But it turns out you aren’t so bad. “
“I’m sorry that happened. I’m sure if that poor girl was in control like me she wouldn’t have done that.” Ina pulled her lips into a thin line. The mood was fragile at best and she didn’t want to ruin it. If she was being honest with herself, she had been wanting to talk about this for a while.
“Probably…” Amelia lowered her gaze into her lap. “Speaking of that, what makes you different?” she said as she lifted her head back up. Her eyes still didn’t meet Ina’s, though.
“I don’t really know. AO-chan never gives me a straight answer when I ask.”
‘It is simply because we do not understand either,’ the familiar voice of the Ancient Ones filled her head. She sighed and dropped her shoulders slightly in frustration.
“I assume they still aren’t giving you answers?” Amelia asked. Ina nodded.
“Of course they are. It’s probably buried in my past somewhere, which they also won’t talk about.”
‘It is simply because we were not with you during your past. We do not know what we were not there for.’ Ina shook her head lightly.
“I am curious, though…” Amelia tensed herself slightly, “Does AO-chan recognize me at all? Do they know what happened to my parents?” Ina waited for them to respond in her head.
‘We have not met. We have no memory of this Amelia Watson or her family.’
“They don’t know you or your family,” Ina passed the message along. Amelia sighed.
“I kinda expected that, but it’s still frustrating. I just want to know what happened to them. Just some closure.” Amelia looked back into her lap and started to fiddle with her hands.
‘They probably did not survive if her story holds merit. We would not have let them live in that state.’ Ina ignored this remark from them.
“Why were you after her parents anyways, AO-chan?” Ina instead asked her own question out loud. Amelia pulled her gaze up from her lap again. She prepared herself for whatever answer she was going to receive.
‘We were after the Droplet. They hold a power which we desire.’
“They were after the Droplet. What power does it hold that you wanted?” Ina said and then asked. The Ancient Ones were quiet for a moment.
‘We wished to see the future. However, it was soon realized that it was impossible to do so. We abandoned that quest long ago.’ This disturbed Ina a little bit, but she was glad that they no longer wanted to get anymore Droplets.
“They wanted to see the future, but realized they couldn’t. I wouldn’t worry about them trying to steal yours any time soon. Both because they don’t want it and I won’t let them.” Ina tried to put the clearly stressed Amelia at ease. It partly succeeded.
‘We wish that you would listen to us more often, though, our Priestess,’ the Ancient Ones pleaded slightly. Ina rolled her eyes. No way was she going to listen to their terrible ideas. Although, they hadn’t exactly told her to do anything bad yet. Key word, yet.
“Well, I should get back to my art. It needs to be finished for our debut and with the other two now here, I think that it’ll be sooner rather than later.” Ina stood up from the couch and began to walk over to the door. But she was stopped before she could fully get away from the couch.
Amelia grabbed her friend by the wrist.
“I just realized that I never said a proper thank you for saving my life that night.” Ina remembered Amelia’s horrified screams when Primal Gura had first been unleashed upon them. Amelia continued, “I would be dead if it wasn’t for you. So, thank you, Ina.”
Ina turned and looked down at Amelia. The time traveler looked back at her with a genuine smile. She returned the smile.
“It feels like everyone is thanking me today,” Ina commented. She hoped Amelia would just understand that she would do that for her again.
“Oh yeah, Gura thanked you earlier, too. You’re just such a big help to all of us!” Amelia sprang up from the couch and playfully rubbed Ina’s hair. The Priestess put her hands on the top of her head to stop the teasing early. The two friends laughed with each other and returned back to the kitchen. Somehow, Gura was still eating.
Calliope Mori sat in her new room with a stone cold expression. Her bed was incredibly comfortable, especially compared to previous ones she’d had. Maybe she would give that whole sleeping thing that Kiara did a try. She didn’t biologically need to, as her body wasn’t bound by mortal rules.
Takanashi Kiara, although immortal, still required sleep to regenerate her energy. Her body behaved much like a normal human’s, but way hotter. The fiery magic that surged through her kept her way warmer than any other creature. The longer she lived, the colder she became. When her body becomes cold enough, she dies and rebirths.
The process was perfectly natural for her. That cycle occurred every few hundred years, however constant use of her magic could cause it to accelerate. After a few days of rest as a pile of ashes she would rebirth. Her memories were messed up, though.
Hopefully, they can fix that soon…
“Hey Calli?” a chirpy voice called out from outside her door. It was of course Kiara. Calliope sighed and stood up from her bed. She knew she wouldn’t make it to the door before the other girl burst in, but it was worth a shot.
“Yes, Kiara?” And just like she predicted, Kiara burst through the door in an instant. Her smile was just as wide and bright as it had always been. Only the darkest of times could wipe it off her face.
“How are ya holding up here? Liking the new place? I know I do!” Kiara’s mouth ran a mile a minute. Once she started talking, it was usually up to you to interrupt her, otherwise she’d just talk forever.
“I’m doing fine,” Calliope’s cold voice contrasted Kiara’s bright and cheery one, “I think it’ll make a fine base for us to work out of.” Kiara pouted.
“Come on, don’t act like this is another place to just exist in. Enjoy it! Have some fun with the other people here! It really has been a while since we’ve hung out with an Atlantean and they have a time traveler and a Priestess! We’ve never talked to them before!” Kiara rambled on and on, like she normally did. Calliope stood and listened to her friend talk her ear off until a topic piqued her interest. That was how a fair amount of their conversations went.
“You’re right, we’ve never spoken with a time traveler or Priestess.” Calliope stopped Kiara’s wild train of thought on that specific topic.
“I know right?! You were a little rude to the time traveler, Amelia, though. Don’t you think you could be nicer to her?” Kiara brought up Calliope’s last interaction with Amelia. It hadn’t gone very good, not that Calliope cared. However, she did need to be around Amelia a little more in the future…
“I could try, but you know being nice isn’t one of my strong suits.” Calliope walked over to her scythe and picked it up. She swung it around a few times out of habit. Kiara wasn’t phased at all by the weapon that could kill her permanently.
“I think that would be great! She could actually help us find the Hatchery!” Kiara continued. Calliope thought about that for a moment.
“Do you know if she’s still down there?” Calliope asked. Kiara nodded.
“Yeah, she’s just chilling down there. She doesn't seem like she’s in a very talkative mood right now, though. She mostly just ignored me or just barely answered my questions.” Kiara didn’t sound mad at Amelia’s attitude towards her, only disappointed. She really wanted to get to know her. Maybe she could try getting to know the other girls for the time being.
“I’ll go talk to her now. If I let her think of me badly for too long, it will become much harder for me to get close to her.”
“You mean become friends with her?” Kiara put words in Calliope’s mouth. The Reaper ignored her and instead walked past her and to the door.
“I’ll see you later then, Kiara. Don’t burn the place down if you like it that much.” Calliope waved a hand to say goodbye. Kiara didn’t want to do that just yet, though.
“It’s been a while since you called me Kusotori. What was that about?” Kiara’s tone of voice turned to one of cheekiness. Calliope knew she was playing into the Phoenix’s hand by replying, but obliged her friend anyway.
“You were frustrating me with how you were acting,” she replied simply. Kiara looked at her smugly.
“Are you sure it isn’t because you want to put on a tough face around them?” Kiara teased. Calliope rolled her eyes.
“Shut it, Kusotori.” Once again, the Reaper’s words held no hostility or malice. They were playful in a sense. Kiara enjoyed this version of Calliope, so she tried to bring it out as much as possible.
This time, Kiara waved goodbye back and let Calliope continue on her mission to talk to Amelia. Just as she got to the stairs to go down to the main floor, Amelia rounded them to go up to her room. The time traveler looked at Calliope and debated on just turning around and leaving.
“Watson.” Calliope’s voice prevented her from making any decision on her own. By social doctrine, she was stuck here in a conversation now.
“Mori.” The two of them addressed each other with last names. It was a weird formality for Amelia, but she didn’t want to possibly offend someone who could probably kill her before she even knew it.
“I would like to talk with you,” Calliope said. Her voice sent chills down Amelia’s spine. It was so cold and lacking care. It was obviously not coming from a human. Was this still the front that her and Gura had joked about earlier? How was this Reaper supposed to be an entertainer?
“I guess I kinda have to. Can we be nicer this time, though?” Amelia asked as nicely as she could. Calliope continued to stare a hole straight through her.
“Yes, I would like that.” Her statement and tone of voice clashed spectacularly. Amelia would’ve found it funny if she wasn’t so terrified. It was one thing to be surrounded by her friends and manager. It was another to be alone with just this Reaper.
“Well, would you like to come into my room? I was just heading up there,” Amelia offered nicely. She was doing a good job at hiding her fear, probably from dealing with Ina and Primal Gura. She guessed she was becoming desensitized to that kind of thing now.
“Ok, let’s go.” Calliope nodded down the hall she’d just come from. This ought to be interesting.