Chapter Text
Waking up from my bed snuggled up in the thick blanket that had been gifted almost a decade ago, I could not help but smile despite the weight of the mission I had been burdened with.
The room was comfortably cold. The perfect temperature that tries to pull the waking mind back to slumber. Something that I almost fell for if not for the itching within the back of my mind. As if I was forgetting something. Looking around the room, I found nothing.
The desk remained organized. Her phone charging on the desk, a single piece of paper on top of the stack of books stayed put by a small purple gem, a tinkertech clock showing the current time of 5:30am, and on top of the desk was the air conditioner humming as it pushed cold air out of its vents, the drawer on the other side of the room were open but that was normal, and the other side of the bed were empty, the pillows organized neatly.
I let those facts simmer in my mind for a few more minutes.
The other side of the bed was empty.
'Oh.' yeah. Oh.
I was alone. In bed. The spot next to me was empty. That was... not right. That was something I started to become unaccustomed to for three years now and it was bothering me.
Looking around the room with a goal in mind, the stupid coat and shiny black shoes that Sekai always dote on were missing.
Consulting the Path reveals a significant amount of steps were added to her Paths, specifically A, C and D. With Path B and E losing a few hundred steps.
The model of a certain someone was completely missing from each path.
Which means only one thing.
Unwrapping myself from the thick blanket, I reached for the phone on the desk. Annoyance building up.
Africa was… not pretty to say the least. A decade since the advent of the enemy and the dawn of parahumanity has not been kind to the continent. What once was a harsh life-bearing land was now more of a desolate wasteland from the constant warfare and turf wars and every other bit of conflict brought on by parahumans. Littering the harsh wasteland were pieces of Oasis, places that remained unspoiled by parahumans, defended by the remaining government that still holds onto a sense of normalcy.
It was a losing battle, at least as they are now. With the bureaucracy of international politics slowing countries from sending reinforcements, they were losing to the other side who had succumbed to the Warlords and Parahumans.
In one of those territories somewhere in Namibia was a gathering of people who held great influence over the surrounding territories. Most hold their position either due to power or skills.
Vuurheer, a 27 year old Woman with the ability to spew fire from her mouth like the great dragons of myth was the leader of this council of rulers, taking the spot from the previous warlord 4 years ago, burning them into a crisp. The woman was hard headed and determined, seeking to expand her territory further.
The others were not so important to the figure in the middle as he held one third of the 34 attendees' numerous sprouting tendrils of bone that come from each fingertips of his right hand. Stabbing into flesh and bones alike but somehow missing every vital organ.
The figure stood at Six-foot three-inches tall, standing apart from those present. Curly white hair flows from his scalp, unlike the ebony black hair sported by those around him.
An off-white coat with black cuffs hung from their shoulders as the figure wore a black long sleeved top and matching pleated pants decorated with a striking gold ginkgo leaf motif cinched with a wide statement belt adorned with an omega symbol and paired with dark glossy boots.
His monochromatic clothing stands in sharp contrast with that of the people around him which wore colorful clothing. His feature who is closely aligned to that of a eurasian descent, albeit paler and with almost a blue tint to them might remind one of a corpse which alienates him further.
His entire appearance would have not been so different from the characters within the black and white movies that were popular in the early 1900s if not for his eyes. Eyes that made up for every drop of life his body is lacking signs of. They burned like miniature suns, shining blood red as they stared at the woman in front of him with what seems to be cruel amusement.
The ossified tendrils creaked and extended further, twisting themselves into the wounds they had buried themselves within, enticing groans and whimpers from each of those present.
Those that had been left uninjured, all suspiciously have not been gifted/cursed with power, were yelling and begging for their life or another. The man did not even bother to pay any sort of attention to them.
“Now. Ms. Vuurheer, I would tell you this again. I do not appreciate this outbursts of yours nor your companions.”
The walking corpse stated, his voice has a gravelly quality to them, yet it was in a tone akin to a parent chastising their child.
“Now as I was saying, Ms. Vuurheer. My organization is interested in solidif-”
The man was interrupted by a continuous vibration and a rather pleasant ringtone within his right pocket. “Ah! Excuse me for a moment.” Unclenching his fingers caused each and every tendrils to recede back and into his fingertips once more, the wounds they buried themselves in closing immediately as they left, the parahumans gasping with relief as they are healed.
Grabbing the phone from my coat, I stared at the number that was calling me, rolling my eyes. I answered.
“Greetings and Salutations, Se-”
“Sekai. Where are you?”
Rude~
“Fortuna~ aren't you quite rude today, you know it's not polite to cut someone off~”
“Quit it. Where are you?”
Ooh~ feisty~
“You know. Just trying to help with negotiations.” I shrugged as I looked around me. The room was a mess, the table, chairs and all sorts of stuff like paper and broken guns were thrown haphazardly around the room.
“Sekai!” she shouts with the rage of a thousand suns.
The outrage from her voice was hilarious and the laughter that burst out from me did not help calming her down.
“Relax. I already talked to the other 2 and they agreed, Ms. Vuurheer is the only one left.”
That caused the parahumna to flinch.
“Each word from you is an additional step added in the Path.”
Huh. Really?
“Really? Mhmm but I executed all the steps I gathered from your path on point.”
“You stole my memories?! That isn't how the path works and you know it!”
“I gave it back, didn't I?”
“That's not the point-”
“I know. But you also know this is stupid. I'm not allowing you to do this, Tell Doctor Mother to keep you out of stupid plans like this and i might stop acting out.”
She tried to interrupt but I stopped her with a tsk. “This isn't the way, Nana.”
“How many times have you done this…” Smart one she is.
“Finally figured it out huh?” I sighed. “Every month since the last four years. I was more subtle the last five times. But I'm tired of hoping you would learn this lesson yourself. That you wouldn't try to do something like this again on my back just because she or the Path told you. Making things worse to make things better is not the way. Even if it's the most efficient path.”
She was quiet. I push on.
“The Doctor can find other test subjects on her own, but I'm not letting her make things worse here just to produce more parahumans to use for her experiments." I pulled the phone away from my ear.
"Don't bother with adjusting the path with a model of me, I'll give the powers back later."
I ended the call there, and placed it back in my pocket. I'll talk to her later. Properly this time.
"Right! Where were we?" I clapped my hands as the so called Warlords around me flinched.
Hopefully Kurt is already awake once im done here. I have a Kingdom to build and logistics isn't my specialty.