Disclaimer: English is not my first language. I'm using Grammarly to check the Grammar and using Word to write it.
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"Where're we?" She asked with a look of disgust at her surroundings.
"An abandoned building," I said.
Morgan turns to me with a questioning gaze.
I shrugged my shoulders, "Needed some privacy to do the summoning ritual. This place was good enough."
Now to get some answers.
"What hap-" I was interrupted by the sound of an explosion in the distance.
We ran outside, and I could see smoke rising a few blocks away. There was only one explanation for what was happening.
"Let's go," I said through gritted teeth.
Morgan softly taps her demonic spear on the ground. I reinforced my legs as the wind started to gather around me, and after a moment I leaped.
The wind guided me to the roof of the building in front of us. After landing on it I broke into a sprint towards the fight, Morgan was easily keeping up with me.
After a few minutes of jumping between rooftops, we arrived at the battle. I grimaced at the scene in front of me.
It's pure chaos on the streets.
The police were trying to evacuate as many civilians as possible while fighting back against empire grunts. Bullets were flying everywhere and I could already see casualties on both sides.
A man wearing a tiger mask launches a wind attack toward a flying blonde teenage girl who is charging at him. The attack destroyed all the windows of a building as she dodged out of the way.
A giant valkyrie was waving around a spear trying to hit a flying woman that was throwing energy blasts at her. One of her swings hits a building and the rubble that fell almost crushes some of the non-powered members of the empire.
A teenager with blue hair was helping the police by protecting them with a bright blue shield. It was giving them some breathing room but not much.
Morgan tilts her head at the scene, "They're...humans?"
"Parahumans to be specific," If I'm not wrong those two are capes from the empire and the others are from the New Wave.
Just wish I could remember their names right now.
"Parahumans?" Morgan asked puzzled.
"Did not you receive information about this world from the grail?" I asked turning to her.
"No, I didn't," Morgan said.
"I will explain everything later." A thought crosses my mind," Are they using magicraft to do all this?"
I could see her eyes glow a little as she looked more intently at the fight.
Morgan humms, "Whatever method they're using has nothing to do with mystics."
That's a new one. Da Vinci will be very interested in this.
But that's for later, let's focus on the now.
"Focus first on the valkyrie then her partner. Don't kill them," I emphasize the last part.
"What will you do?" Morgan asked.
"I'm going to take some of the pressure off those shields," I didn't know how long he could keep it under such have fire.
Morgan cast a shield that covered me in a gentle light before I could request it. It disappears after a second.
"Thank you," I said with a big smile.
"It's nothing," Morgan said with a small smile.
As I was about to jump down, I remembered something important.
"Oh right, I need a mask," That could have been very bad.
"Why is it necessary?" Morgan asked while using item construction to make it.
She handed it to me when it was done.
"To keep my identity hidden," It was a pale blue domino mask.
After I placed the mask on, the wind gathered once more and we jumped.
The wind slowed down my descent towards the unsuspecting gang members.
Morgan created lances made of light, she launched them toward the valkyrie.
BOOM.
I really hope that she doesn't kill anyone.
I landed behind two gang members who were distracted by the explosion. I punched both of them on the back of their heads, easily taking care of both of them.
Looking around I saw that no one realized yet my presence.
But they won't stay distracted for long, I need to move fast.
There weren't many left that could still fight. But charging head first is just foolish, especially when they're armed.
"Never stay still in a shooting. Be always on the move or find cover," Billy's lessons echoed in my mind.
I wrote the rune 'Ansuz' three times on air as fast as possible to launch head-sized fireballs at the remaining gang members. I didn't stay to see how many were hit.
Running to a corner of a building for cover, I came to face with an officer who was on the ground holding her bloody leg.
She was pointing a gun at me.
I raised my hands to try to calm her, "Easy there! I'm not your enemy!"
"Who the hell are you?" She said breathing hard.
"I'm a hero," I said with a grimace at her condition.
She was losing too much blood.
"Let me help you," I said moving closer.
"Stay back!" she yelled.
I stopped," Please, let me help you." I said as calmly as possible, "You're losing too much blood."
She looked at me for a moment and lowered her weapon with a resigned sigh.
I moved quickly to her side to put pressure on her wound. I tore a sleeve from my hoodie.
"This will hurt a little," I said tying tightly the sleeve around the wound.
Her response was to put her hands over her mouth to muffle the screams.
BOOM.
I ignored the explosion and focused on the problem in front of me.
She needs medical attention ASAP.
There were ambulances behind those Shields. I need to take her there.
Taking a peek at the street I saw that the fight wasn't going to last much longer.
The valkyrie was covered in bruises, cuts and holding her right side, blood seeped between her fingers. Her spear was nowhere to be seen.
I couldn't find the man with the tiger mask. Hopefully, he wasn't a threat anymore.
The remaining gang members were occupied with a small fire.
"We will make a run for it," I said picking her up in a bridal carry.
She groaned in pain.
Reinforcing my legs, I ran as fast as possible towards the ambulance.
At the speed I was going it would take at-
CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.
I was a few meters away from them when a glow surrounded me for a second. The sound of metal hitting metal buzzed in my ears.
Something just hit me, but thanks to Morgan's shield I felt nothing.
I jumped the rest of the distance and landed behind the shields.
Some were shouting around me but I didn't pay attention to them.
"Medic! I need a medic!" I roared at the officers around me.
"Miller!" Someone shouted alarmed.
Na officer ran to me to check on her. Most likely her partner.
"She lost too much blood," I said to him.
He looked at how pale she was and led me to the ambulance.
I handed her over to the EMTs, and after that, he turned to me.
"Who're you supposed to be?" He asked In a gruff voice.
I'm going to have to think of a cape name later.
"Don't have a name yet," I said. "Just here to help."
He snorts, "You choose one hell of a night to do that."
A pained yell brought our attention to the fight.
The valkyrie was impaled in the stomach by a bigger version of Morgan's spear made of light.
I could see her pulling the tip of the spear from a portal that was in front of her, making the bigger version disappear.
"Is she with you?" He asked nervous.
"Yes, she is," I said with a smile.
A lot of blood started to flow from the wound. Before she could even put her hands over it the blonde teenager from before flew to her face and threw a vicious punch that finished her.
The ground shook a little when she fell. After that, she started to shrink to a normal human size.
"Man, Glory Girl has a mean right hook," Someone in the crowd said.
Now I remember who they are.
That's Glory Girl, Shielder, and Lady Photon.
That was bugging me.
Morgan was walking towards me, ignoring all of the attempts Lady Photon and Glory made to talk to her.
Reaching me, she looked down.
"Why are your hands covered in blood?" She asked.
...What?
Looking down, my hands were indeed covered in blood.
"It's from someone I helped," Didn't even notice that.
Most people would be more distraught with having so much blood on their hands.
I was not like most people.
Morgan created a small ball of water for me.
I cleaned my hands with it.
"Ahem" someone coughed loudly next to us.
I turned to see Lady Photon and Shielder.
With one look I could tell they were both exhausted, but Shielder was also...angry.
"Hi," I said while drying my hands on the hoodie.
Going to have to throw it away later.
"Are you hurt?" She asked concerned.
"Thanks for the concerns but it's not mine. I helped an officer that got shot in the leg. Must have hit an artery, she was bleeding too fast," I said calmly.
"I..see," She gave me a strange look.
Did I say something wrong?
"Anyway, thank you both for the help. I shudder to think how much more damage Fenja and Stormtiger would have done if the fight had gone any longer," She said with a frown.
Oh yeah, those two.
Wait, isn't the valkyrie called Menja? Or am I remembering someone else?
All right, that's it. The first thing when I get back home is to use the internet to refresh my memory.
Honestly, should have done that already.
"I'm Lady Photon and this is Shielder, but you probably know that already," She said with a forced chuckle. Trying to alleviate some of the tension.
With all the commotion around us, it wasn't very effective.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both," I said with a smile.
"And you two are?" She asked curious.
"Don't got a name yet," Never thought I would need a hero name.
I glance at Morgan to see if she would say anything.
"Berserker," Morgan said blankly.
At least she isn't ignoring them.
"This is your first time?" Lady Photon said a little surprised.
Even Shielder gave me a shocked look.
I tilt my head to the right, not understanding their reaction.
Wait, I get it. I'm claiming to be a newbie but acting like someone with more experience.
Well, whatever.
"I guess so," I said unbothered. "By the way, what happened to Stormtiger?" I couldn't find him before.
"He's on the hole," Lady Photon said with grim satisfaction.
Hole?
Looking over the street I saw what she meant. There's a small crater with Stormtiger right in the center of it. He was covered in bruises and, most importantly, his right arm was bent the wrong way.
How did I miss that?
"Glory Girl?" I asked looking at the crater.
"Yes," Lady Photon said casually as if talking of the weather.
I'm going to give her a high five later.
"So, how did this begin?" I said referring to the situation.
"The empire were being assholes again," Shielder hissed in anger.
"Shielder," Lady Photon said tiredly.
"This is just another show of how strong they're and not afraid of any-" He stops ranting when Lady Photon places a hand on his shoulder.
She looked worriedly at him.
"Go help, Glory Girl," Lady Photon said softly.
He flew with slumped shoulder to Glory Girl.
She sighed, "I'm sorry about that. He's just-"
I knew exactly how he was feeling.
"Frustrated," I said looking at his back. "That all his efforts aren't enough. That no matter how hard he tries it might never be enough," my body started to tremble.
"In the end, all you can do is swallow those feelings and hope next time will be better," I said with a shaky breath.
Failures flashed before my eyes.
Too lost in memories, I didn't notice the looks Morgan and Lady Photong were giving me.
"Husband," Morgan grabbed my hand in concern.
Looking at her, I tried to take a deep breath to calm my nerves.
It didn't work.
Wanting to have some time alone, I turned to Lady Photon to say goodbye.
She was staring wide eyes at me.
I gave her a brittle smile, "I think I had enough excitement for one day."
I left with Morgan before Lady Photon could say anything else.
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"Are you better now?" Morgan said next to me.
"A little," I said sighing.
We were inside a bounded field in Boardwalk, sitting on a bench and looking at the beach.
There's so much litter.
Which's a shame, since it seems like such a nice beach.
"You are being too harsh with yourself," Morgan said softly.
"I could have saved so many more if-" a finger was put on my lips.
"No," Morgan said firmly.
"Wondering if the outcome could have been different if you had more information, more resources, more power, or any other variables, will only make you look back at all the choices made and resent them. We can only work with the tools at our disposal and nothing more," Morgan said.
She puts her hand on my cheek," You restored the world and proper human history. Hold your head high and be proud of what you achieved, Husband," Morgan said softly while wiping some of the tears that were falling from my eyes.
I could only nod since I wasn't in a condition to speak.
Morgan smiled and leaned her head on my left shoulder.
After that, we settled in a comfortable silence and watched the moon.
I don't know how long we kept doing that, but I still needed some answers.
"What happened after we defeated the alien god?" I asked in a low voice, breaking the silence.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Morgan made no move to lift her head.
I thought a little, "Da Vinci said something was happening and suddenly I woke up in a hospital."
"Hospital?" Morgan asked.
"I was in a coma for two months," I still don't know how to feel about that.
Morgan humms, "It matches what he told us."
"What?" I asked confused.
"Let me start from the beginning. As the world was starting to restore to how it once was, you were enclosed in a glow and started to disappear in small particles of light," Morgan said.
Wait a second.
"That's what it looks like when servants return to the throne," I exclaimed in disbelief turning to Morgan.
Morgan lifts her head and nods.
"At first we thought it was some sort of attack from the alien god but Da Vinci confirmed that he was gone which left us confused. All the methods used to determine what happened were of little use since, as you said, they all matched with data of a servant returning to the throne," Morgan said.
"However it wasn't the throne you were returning to but someplace else and we couldn't tell where. While we were looking for answers, the Mage's Association came to Chaldea demanding answers," Morgan finished with a sneer.
That can't have ended well.
"What did they do?" I asked with dread.
"Walking around as if they owned the place, making ludicrous demands, non-stop screeching," Morgan was fuming. "And they dared to call us liars when proof of what transpired was shown," Her fist was clenched tightly.
Holy crap, I've never seen her this angry.
"Were any of them killed?" Please say no.
Morgan takes a breath to regain her composure," As satisfying as that would have been, Da Vinci and Goredolf stopped us. Saying it would only make things worse."
Thank god, that would have been ugly.
"That's when he appeared," Morgan said more calmly. "A man by the name of Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg."
I sucked a deep breath in surprise.
The wizard Marshall.
Kaleidoscope.
You don't learn about the world of mystics without learning about him too.
"Why was he there?" I asked in a small voice.
"To take over the investigation on Chaldea's actions, since they were deemed unfit to conduct it," Morgan said with a satisfied smile. "That was just an excuse he used to send those pests away."
"How mad were they," I asked in an excited tone.
"They were red in the face from indignation and looked like were about to throw a tantrum," Morgan sighs in disappointment. "However they stayed quiet and just stormed out."
That's a shame, but it would be foolish to go against his orders.
After all, he is one the highest authorities in the Mages's Association.
"So, what did he say?" I asked.
"Firstly, he expressed gratitude for the success in restoring proper human history. Afterward came the explanation of what had happened to you," Morgan looked me in the eyes. "He said that you returned home since your contract was completed," Morgan said seriously.
Contract?
"What?" I whispered breathlessly.
"To put it simply. Zelretch summoned you to save the world," Morgan said.
How is that simple?!
"Why me?! I'm a nobody!" I screamed furiously at Morgan.
She was unbothered by it and waited for me to calm down.
I took a few deep breaths to calm down.
"Sorry," I said after calming down.
"It's fine, you have all the right to be angry. He placed a burden that was too heavy on your shoulder without permission," Morgan said with a frown.
Screw being a magician, I'm going to punch that asshole if I ever get the chance.
"Why did he even do something like that?" I was feeling even more tired.
"He knew the human order incineration incident was coming but was being watched by an unknown enemy. Thus his movements were very limited," Morgan said.
I'm not surprised with that, given what Goetia is.
"But what forced his hand was the results of all the simulations on the chances that humanity had to overcome the coming crisis. They all showed less than one percent of success," Morgan said grimly.
Less than one percent!?
"Tha-that's is to be expected right? With Levy sabot-" Morgan interrupted me.
"Even if such an incident had never occurred and Chaldea was at its peak, the results would still be the same. That's something that he made quite clear to us," Morgan said.
I don't know what to say to that. I always thought that our chances were so low because of what Levy did.
"That's when he summons me, and I fell into a coma," I'm getting a headache from this.
Morgan nods," It took your conscience and gave a new body, while the original was back here waiting for your return. It was a one-sided contract that forced you to do his bidding."
Well, now I know why I was in a coma.
Now that I think about it, that also explains why Mash found me sleeping on the ground on my first day there.
"He was quite apologetic about his actions and wanted to give us something," Morgan said.
As if anything he gives will ever make up for all I have been through.
"He made it possible for us to reunite," Morgan said with a smile.
I blinked in confusion," What do you mean?"
"Chaldea has no connection to this world besides you. Summoning would have been simply impossible," Morgan said.
Seriously?! That never even crossed my mind.
Wait, so then how was I successful?
The answer hit me like a lightning bolt.
"Kaleidoscope," I said with wide eyes.
"Yes, though I'm unsure of how was made possible, you will have to talk to Da Vinci," Morgan tilts her head in thought.
I cover my face groaning.
I'm too tired of this crap.
"Alright, here is what we're going to do," I groaned while getting up. "We will go home and sleep. Tomorrow we will thing of our next step," I got a fucking migraine.
Dad, I hope you have some strong booze.