Work Text:
"....Y'know, Sigkin, I've been thinkin'," Marikin began as he pulled the lever of the slot machine in front of him yet again.
"'Thinking', huh...? I think you do that way more often than people realise," Sigkin responded while audibly trying to keep a straight face, pulling his own slot machine's lever once more.
"The hell is that supposed to mean...?"
"Nothing, nothing~" Sigkin laughed lightheartedly. "What have you been thinking about?"
"Ehh, y'know...." Marikin coughed as he stopped spinning his slots, glancing around their casino area for a moment, before turning to face Sigkin. "....you know, like... those two?"
"...You're going to have to be more specific," Sigkin replied flatly, stopping his slot machine as well.
"The, uh.... meowy face.... two. Those two. The two numas that look almost exactly the same, have the exact same kind of mouth and face, but their closed eyes are like... mirrored vertically from each other?"
"...You couldn't have just said their names?" Sigkin raised an eyebrow.
"I'm trying to relay my point, Sig," Marikin stated. "Fukurou and Uie have almost exactly the same face. What the hell is up with that? It's weird, and if I think about it too hard, it kinda freaks me out."
"Your grandma's face is almost exactly like yours," Sigkin said in a knowing chuckle.
"Oh please, I already demonstrated and explained to you that she's only a magical summon, not a real... 'grandma'."
"Stiiiill doesn't answer why you made your magical summon a grandma."
"Needed something with hands that could hold Fanta drinks, not like, an animal or something..." Marikin cleared his throat, trying to return to his original subject. "My point is, Fukurou and Uie's faces are way too similar, and it's weird, it freaks me out."
"I think you are thinking about this too hard..."
"Honestly, yeah, but also listen; Out of the 17 of us numas - including us two - that we know, and the 4 MDCR guys, and Gabukin - None of us have a face that really resembles any other's, except those two."
"I mean, I dunno, I'd say Jungle's face kinda looked like yours sometimes."
"Please do not say that - That's like me saying that Jeraldy's face was similar to yours."
"gh-- okay yeah i don't like the sound of that, forget i said anything."
"likewise."
"Okay, so, you're saying Fukurou and Uie's faces are way too similar. Why is that a problem?" Sigkin asked.
"It's a problem because... Because normally if two people's faces are similar, it'd be because of genetic reasons or something - But that's for humans and like... normal living things, not for numas like us. Because we know that that kinda thing isn't possible for us numas; We're not born the same way." Marikin made a deep inhale. "...Sigkin, remind me what little we know about how numas are born?"
"Uhh.... We.... don't know much, what we do know is... It seems that a numa's life usually starts at a swamp? Normally under stormy or abnormal weather of some kind, from those kinds of swamps with odd and possibly magical properties... From what I've heard from the others, and also from what little I remember myself, we all sorta just... woke up in that sort of place, all of a sudden. No infant stage or anything, we just... suddenly started existing as we are." Sigkin coughed. "...Right now, that's all we really know about how we're 'born'."
"Mmhm. So basically some weird stormy magic shit happens at a swamp, and then a numa just starts existing - Nothing to do with genetics, nothing to do with any sort of... relations with anything!" Marikin exclaimed. "So for two numas to have the same specific facial features? Anomaly. Unlikely. Something weird and possibly unnatural."
"I-- I mean... Maybe they both came from the same swamp location...? Or under the same kind of weather...?" Sigkin tried to reason.
Marikin clearly wasn't convinced. "Weather is fickle, changes all the time - No two storms are exactly the same. The properties of swamps themselves aren't consistent or constant either; Wetlands, slow-moving water slowly but surely shifting things around in the soil, the mud - Animals and energy travelling around through those mediums and shifting materials, other energies, things... And it's not like the entire swamp is equalized in how its... stuff is spread out. The properties of two numas born from the same swamp could and should be completely different." Marikin exhaled sharply after rambling out all those words. "...Damn I've been thinking too much."
"Maybe we should get out of this casino..." Sigkin started becoming aware again of the rattling sounds of slots and roulettes around them.
"Yeah... Makes my head hurt." Marikin got up to leave, followed by the other.
"Hm... If anything, you could try asking Fukurou and Uie how they met?" Sigkin shrugged as they left the casino building. "I know we numas don't remember too much from the time period when we were born, so you could try asking that instead."
"...Hm.... Yeah, sounds good, I'll do that," Marikin nodded. "I don't think I ever heard of how they met, or how Fukurou basically started working for Uie."
"Same here." Sigkin paused. "...wait, why am i encouraging you? You're thinking way too much into all of this, you really don't need to like... look into it so much. At all."
"....Sigkin, you're looking at me like I've been telling you some sort of conspiracy theory."
"I mean, y-- You kind of are???"
"It's not a conspiracy, it's... you know, me just wanting to know, like, the truth, the cause, the reasoning for--" Marikin looked up as Sigkin began backpedaling away from him while blankly staring directly at his face. "Hey-- Hey, don't you run away from me like that-- I'm not crazy-- Sig-- Stop running!!" he yelled as he started running after him.
"Hm? You're asking me how I started being an apprentice under Uie-sama?" Fukurou asked, sitting on the couch in the break room of Maidon Lunch with Marikin, both of them taking a break from their work shifts in the restaurant.
"...Yeah, sure, let's... Right." That wasn't the exact wording Marikin had used, but he shrugged it off for now. "Let's, uh, let's hear it."
"Well... I admired Uie-sama's works - Their poetry, their writing, their drawings... Aaaand so I became their apprentice and assistant!" Fukurou said with a smile. "And while learning things from them - like how to handle a writing or drawing instrument in such a way to project whatever you desire - I also got to look at the books on magic that they had, and found myself very inclined towards magic too! I think Uie-sama kinda just gave me all their magic books." She gave a laugh.
"...Okay, so... Okay, that's why you became their apprentice and started assisting them or whatever. That's... why... you met them." Marikin coughed. "...Fukurou, my question was how you met them."
"...Hm?"
"So you were a fan of their books, their works - Works of someone operating under an anonymous identity. How did you track Uie down? How did you find them, how did you meet them? What do you remember, about meeting them? About... whatever it is you did to meet them?"
"About.... how I met them...?" Fukurou began thinking it over, hand at her chin as she stared at the floor. "...how i... found...?"
"You had to find them, right? From being a fan, liking their stuff. And then you had to, like... leave whatever you were doing before that?"
"...be...fore...?" Fukurou looked more confused with every passing second, her other hand in her lap crumpling the work apron that she still wore. "...before..."
"....Fukurou, do you remember what you were doing before that? Before you met Uie?"
".....be...before.... uie...?"
.......
"...fukurou...?"
".....before.... i.... i don't.... remember..." Fukurou's smile had disappeared. "...i... don't remember..."
"....Okay, new conspiracy theory : Uie brainwashed you into serving under them as their unpaid assistant-apprentice, and I am going to kill them."
"N-No, I don't think that's it, Marikin-san..."
Fukurou let out a deep exhale of air. "Okay, I guess I don't remember much about how I met them... or anything that I was doing before that, but.... but I know that joining them was a decision I made, myself - I spent some time reading their works, liked their stuff, and wanted to learn from them. Not... whatever it is you said just now."
"......" Marikin thought it over. "...What do you remember, then, about when you started being Uie's assistant?" he asked.
"Um... Oh! I know that when I started, Uie-sama was, like.... kinda sick, honestly?" Fukurou said. "Like, um... Yeah! They... Something had happened back then that took a massive toll on Uie-sama's body and their magic systems - They couldn't really properly use their own magic for like, a year...!"
Marikin paused. "...That sounds significant. Do you know what caused that?"
"Uhh, not really... I think Uie-sama ended up really worn out and confused or disoriented from whatever happened, to the point where they themself forgot what it was...? I know they couldn't remember when I asked them myself...."
"Were they in a fight of some kind? Had to expend more magic than their own limits as a last resort...?"
"Hm... Honestly, I don't know... Possibly...?" Fukurou shrugged. "...Anyway, they were really weak during that time while recovering, and needed quite an amount of assistance for things.... And, um, I think I'm just glad that I was there to help them? Ahah, it... it was tough, they were honestly really unwell, but... we pulled through! Uie-sama eventually recovered! I'm just... glad, about that."
"........." Marikin was seemingly pondering over things.
"....Hey! Break time ended 10 minutes ago!" Ven Kinako yelled as she slammed open the break room door.
"A-Ah, yes, sorry...!!" Fukurou stood up. "Um, Marikin-san, let's get back to work~ Let's keep doing our best today!"
"....Yeah." Marikin stood up as well, following the two of them out the door.
"...Hm? You're asking me how I met Fukurou...?" Uie asked as they looked up from their desk, repeating Marikin's question back at him.
Marikin nodded, standing next to Uie's chair. "Yeah."
Uie thought over it for a while, putting their pen down and turning away from their own work to face Marikin. "...Hm. I... remember less than I thought, about the stuff that happened back then..." Though their face remained as unchanging as always, their voice sounded somewhat unsettled.
"That's okay - Just tell me what you do remember," Marikin said in a coaxing tone.
"Hm... I remember... being really unwell... Something happened that took a lot out of me - I couldn't use my magic as normal for more than a year, and my body was very worn out... But, that was the time that I met Fukurou, so with her helping me around, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. As for what happened, or how exactly I met Fukurou, I..." Uie paused, still trying to think. "....i really... can't remember. That period of recovery for me was rough, and I really don't remember much of the earlier parts of it, or anything that happened in the time period of when it started..." They remained silent for a moment, still thinking, before they sighed in defeat. "...My apologies, Marikin."
"...I see. Don't worry about it." Marikin patted their back, before moving to their other side to look at the bookshelf next to their desk. "This is your bookshelf, right? Can I take a look?'
"Knock yourself out; Though you probably won't find anything that interests you in particular." Uie turned back to their work, picking their pen back up again. "I let Fukurou have all my books on magic when she joined me, so those are on her bookshelf, not mine."
"So what're these, then?" Marikin grabbed a random book and flipped it open.
"Ahh, y'know. Novels, poetry, writings and stuff... Books on art, too, things like perspective drawing or whatever... A bunch of reference material, stuff about sentence and story structures... Oh, alchemy books too." Uie shrugged as they continued scribbling story points onto a paper at their desk. "A lot of the books on that bookshelf are pretty old at this point, and it's not like I've looked at too much of them recently, now that I've long been busy doing my own works and all. Heck, some of the books on the upper shelves I probably haven't touched in years."
"Wait, where're the books that you wrote, then...?"
"Separate shelf, different room. I need to keep them apart from stuff that's not mine, obviously."
"Right." Marikin put away the book that he held, reaching for a book on the top shelf next. "These books up here are completely plain cover...? No title, no nothing, their spines all look exactly the same."
"It's a series by one of the more prominent authors back in the day," Uie stated with another shrug. "That's how they decided to 'brand' that book series."
"How do you even tell the books apart...?" Having flipped through that book, Marikin put it back on the top shelf and took a different one which externally looked exactly the same.
"Title's on the inside."
Marikin began flipping through the new book he had grabbed. "....Right. Still... a bit inconvenient though." A pause in dialogue as he continued flipping, looking through the depicted diagrams and... things. "....The books in that guy's series are all stories and stuff, right?"
"Yeah, he was an author, well-known. I personally don't vibe with his writing style too much, but his stuff is good. His writing kinda got worse after the divorce though. They say he died from cardiac arrest at some point? I dunno."
"....." Marikin looked down at a particular section of this book, covered in sticky notes bearing Uie's handwriting. "...Did you.... used to do more stuff with magic back in the day?"
"Uhhh, yeah, I did study it quite a bit for a while, that's why I had all those books on magic to give Fukurou. Can't say I do that stuff as much anymore though, after that period of being super unwell and recovering from... whatever made me unable to use magic for a year plus." Uie swapped out the paper they had been working on for a blank one, now swiftly sketching away.
"......."
.....Marikin snapped the book shut with one hand. "Can I borrow this book?"
"Eh? You wanna?"
"Yeah, it, uh... really speaks to me. I wanna... take a look at it more, I think," he decided to say.
"Go ahead, return it to my shelf whenever."
"A'ight, thanks."
Book that was clearly about magic - Old, unfamiliar techniques and spells that looked highly illegal and dangerous. Disguised to look like part of the series by that author Uie mentioned, plain cover of that colour with zero identifying text or features.
Section of this book with sticky notes and clear signs of use - Section about Sentient Being Creation, using magic as fuel for that creation. Not a magic summon, not a golem or minion, not a clone... An actual separate, living, breathing being. The entire section was covered with printed warnings; High probability of failure, high risk of side effects from using the documented spells or techniques : Incognizance, fugue state or coma, sheer physical weakness, highly damaged magic systems from overstrain, chance of death...
Subsection of that section, with the most sticky notes and worn pages - Sentience via Abstracted Swamp Hydrology. Paragraphs detailing how to force a specific kind of physical matter formation from pure magic by utilising an "abstracted swamp", as well as the rest of the multitude of required spells, techniques, and strict sequences utilising such a place for this... sentient being creation.
Sticky note written by Uie at the end of that subsection : Direct spell use would burn&destroy book. Copy to paper for potential usage.
Marikin was left reeling at everything he had read, heard and discovered. He wasn't even sure what to think. He didn't know what to think at all. So many more questions with not even the slightest chance of getting answers, because neither Uie nor Fukurou were capable of remembering any of it. Uie because of the toll and damage they sustained from this... highly illegal spell, and Fukurou because she wouldn't remember too much from the beginning of her worldly existence.
Marikin just sat there on the beach chair he had been sitting on, in silence, processing it all, staring down at the sand with the closed book still in his hand.
......
"...rikin... Heyy, Marikin. Heyyy."
Marikin blinked, stiffly looking up at the figure that now stood next to his chair.
"Hey man, what's gotten into you? It's like you weren't even hearing me," Sigkin said in a laugh. "What's up?"
"......"
Sigkin's smile weakened upon the lack of response. "Hm...?"
....
....Sigkin was left reeling at what he had heard from Marikin, what he had read from the book he was now holding. "....this.... are... are you sure...?" he asked carefully, sitting next to Marikin on the long beach chair.
"Neither of them can actually remember how they met. Uie was worn out and unable to use magic for a year, Fukurou showed up and began helping them out when that started." Marikin was merely re-stating the facts. "....I don't know what else it could be."
"I guess that sorta explains some things, though..." Sigkin huffed, flipping through the book pages again. "...Uie's magic - far beyond normal limits - was used as the fuel and basis for... Fukurou's creation. That's why... their faces are so similar. Fukurou became an individual of her own after that, but how her physical form was assembled.... involved Uie."
"That's also why Fukurou's so short and physically weak - Only the bare minimum required for a physical body to exist, for an unnatural forced formation. Even that took a severe toll on Uie themself. On the other hand, maybe that's why Fukurou is so magically-inclined... She was physically made from magic."
"But... But why did Uie want to do this sort of thing...? How-- How and why did they even get their hands on this book...?" Sigkin muttered, voicing out both of their questions.
"Doubt Uie remembers anything specific from that time, or what they were thinking back then; They're not even aware that they have this book now. They probably wouldn't have the answers either."
"...if they wanted an assistant, they could have just.... used a normal magic summon spell, or some sort of minion or golem-creation spell... Something less illegal and risky."
"....maybe they wanted something... someone, that could think for themself with a separate mind of their own, and would live as more than just a temporary existence. A... sentient.... living being."
"They couldn't have just hired some guy...?"
"Probably didn't want their anonymous author/artist identity compromised, wanted to remain completely anonymous and faceless... Didn't want any outsiders knowing them or where they lived...? Or maybe they just wanted someone they knew with 100% certainty that they could trust...?"
"...i guess we're just guessing, at this point..."
"....."
....
"...so... now what?" Sigkin asked uncertainly.
"....i.... i don't know."
"Do you think we should tell those two...?"
.....
....Marikin suddenly stood up, grabbing the book out of Sigkin's hands and closing it. "...No, I don't think we do."
"Eh...?"
"Past is the past," Marikin began as he paced forward on the sands of the beach. "Circumstances of one's creation, where they're from, how they came to be.... None of that matters; None of that's ever mattered for any of us." Marikin turned back to Sigkin as he held up the book. "As long as they don't ask, we don't need to say anything about this."
"So you're taking the 'ignorance is bliss' path...?"
"You could say that," Marikin shrugged, letting his arm fall and rest the book against the side of his leg, before he averted his gaze. "....On that note; Sorry you had to end up knowing all this too," he sighed.
"I-- I mean, it's fine... I was wondering, too, after all that stuff you said at the casino that day."
"...You still haven't explained why you started backpedaling away from me like that, by the way," Marikin pointed out in marginal annoyance.
"Oh, that was just for funsies."
"Eh."
"Funsies."
"........Okay, well. I have a book to return to Uie's shelf, so I'll see you later." Marikin turned to leave, but paused for a moment. "....Sig... Thanks for being here."
"...Of course. Anytime."
"You're still working away in here?" Marikin said out loud as he casually threw open the door of Uie's house.
"You could at least knock first, buddy." Uie didn't even look up from their desk, busy with some sort of writeup. "But yes, I am, in fact, still working away."
"It's been hours, man, go get some air outside or something." Marikin walked up to Uie's bookshelf, returning the borrowed book back to its place.
"Inspiration waits for none, my friend." Uie just continued their work. "...How was the book? You liked the story of that one?"
"Oh-- Yeah, I mean, I kinda speed-read through it; It was neat, but the ending felt lame," Marikin decided to say.
"Ah - Must've been one of the books after the author's divorce. His way of writing conclusions took a nosedive after how messily his marriage ended."
"Please don't start talking to me about some guy's divorce, Uie."
"Noted."
"....Marikin-san! You!" Fukurou yelled upon opening the front door and entering. "You still owe me that ice cream, remember...!?"
"Hm? What're ya talkin' about?" Marikin said in a casual manner.
"Don't act like you don't remember-- My ice cream that you stole and ate from the break room fridge at Maidon Lunch!!" Fukurou stormed up to him and pinched his face, stretching it. "Gimme my ice cream!!!"
"ow ow ow hey stop that-- hey-- Hey quit it--"
Marikin had to grab her wrist and pry her hand off his cheek - At which Fukurou immediately and unapologetically began using her other hand to pinch the other side of his face instead.
"Why are you always so grumpy when it comes to these sorts of things with me...?" Marikin sighed with mild annoyance, reaching to pry her second hand off of himself as well.
"Because I wanted my ice cream...!! And you took it!!!"
"It was unlabelled, unmarked, I thought it was a free-for-all thing sitting in the fridge..!" Marikin exclaimed, pulling both her hands down and away from his face.
"Well maybe you should have asked first...!! It's common courtesy, it's...!"
While Fukurou continued to ramble at him with many words, Marikin stared down at the hands that he now held the wrists of. Physical hands. Physical form.
Physical body, no malformations. No mutations or disfigurations of any sort. Indistinguishable from numas that (presumably) weren't formed under such magnitude of unnaturally forced circumstances. Hands have correct number of fingers. Range of motion correct, nothing unnatural, completely indistinguishable from regular. Forced physical formation from magic, but practically flawless execution by the... artist.
Maybe Uie's better at magic than they really let on. Or... maybe they were better at magic? It's hard to know whether they did fully recover back up to their full capacity after the event, and it's not like he can really ask without prying any more than he already has. Uie had plenty of magic books to give to Fukurou... How much of those books had they gone through back in the day?
"....arikin-san? Hey, Marikin-san...?"
Marikin blinked, his grip faintly stiffening as he looked up. "H-- Hm?"
"You've been... silent and just... holding and turning my hands around...." Fukurou spoke.
.......
Marikin very abruptly and suddenly let go of her, turning in place to pace towards the front door. "A-- Anyway! Ice cream, right? C'mon Fukurou, I'll take you someplace, my treat."
"Oh, um, okay...!"
"Have fun on your ice cream date, Fukurou~" Uie sang without even looking up.
"It's not a date...!!"