Interlude: Fatebreaker

-Arisu's Prospective-

"Oh, I guess this means I've died again"

I knew this place, well, to call it a place would indicate it was a physical location.

This was nothing of the sort.

The first time I died I woke up here, but once again, to say I 'woke up' wouldn't explain it either.

Right now I am just a drop of water swimming in an ocean of oil. I couldn't feel, I couldn't smell, I couldn't even see or taste.

The only sense I still had was hearing.

"Dead? I guess it would seem like that I suppose. What was the last thing you remember?"

That voice, that same voice that both haunted and comforted me.

The God who dwelled in the Pools of Reflection.

"I was- in a field. There was a girl who looked Japanese? I went with my guts and gave her a fright so I didn't have to fight her- there was also another one. We held him down and won the fight, that's- that's all I got"

"'That's all you got?' Are you sure?"

"I think it felt like I was on fire- like I had eaten one of those fruits- but I don't remember doing that?"

I didn't know what this God wanted, but the first and last time I was here it felt like an eternity as we went over my entire life.

She had asked me 'if I could do it all again, what would I change'.

My life was full of regrets, I told her each and every single one.

I had been brought up by my rich parents, my perfect upbringing, never needing anything.

Yet I had always wanted more, demanding more.

The parents who ran a pharmaceuticals company never had time for me, but I didn't want it either.

I hated everything and did nothing.

I took Anything I wanted and gave nothing in return.

I was pathetic.

That was me, it was who I was, I didn't care for the world, or for others.

When I was 16, I was diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Lung Cancer.

Doctors called it impossible that at such an age I had it, that it should have only ever happened if I was over 45.

It was poetic justice, someone like me to be diagnosed as such.

Then, at 18 I died.

It wasn't cancer.

It wasn't even something from my world.

A patient with an Impossible illness killed by an impossible beast.

I was killed by a dragon, a dragon who escaped the very world I now live in.

"To send a soul across worlds, one must pay a heavy price, let alone a monster of that magnitude"

"But how? How did it go between worlds"

"I don't know, after all, I've been stuck in this pond for who knows. I've only been able to see the connected world through your eyes"

"So why am I here again then, if I'm not dead?"

"You were brought here last time by someone else, if he didn't show himself to you that means you aren't ready to meet him. This time, well, you are near death, so I decided to say hi you see?"

"Great, so I am going to die"

"Goodness no, I gave you some of my power so you wouldn't be burdened by such trivial things. It would bore me oh so very much if you died"

"Is that why-"

"Hehe yes darling. I guess you could call yourself a demi-god if you so wish as well, my very own fox envoy"

"Then why can't I-"

"My soul overpowers yours. That means even though you can transform, you're humanoid form will always resemble me"

"So nothing I've done is even because I worked hard then? Great. If I could feel anything in this pond, I would be sad"

"Oh I see, you assume that the power you've cultivated was mine? No, I simply planted the seed of a tree that could grow into reflection of itself"

"So? You still gave me, how could I call that my own?"

"Do parents in your world claim their child as complete property? If you had short parents and you are short do they own that height? You are my Kitsune, the body I gave you is akin to a child's birth. What you do with that is your own choice, I hope to guide you in my own way"

"So, I'm your kid?"

"Hmm? Of course not. Simply reborn with my aid. Besides, all of my kids went off to become concubines, it was all so very boring. I enjoy seeing the world through your eyes, the first Kitsune I've seen take up arms"

"Well, can you at least fix the parts of my body that haven't caught up then? I don't like not being able to think when I'm tired"

"I suppose, but that only happened because you only know how to transform from appearance alone, my influence has fought yours on a level you don't understand. A Kitsune is only meant to grow a tail every hundred years or so as well, maybe you grew wiser as a human? Well, I guess I can try, it's no fun if you spend more time asleep than awake"

"Thank you"

"..."

"..."

"How long am I going to be stuck here?"

"Oh, well, hard to say but they have noticed something is wrong and that handsome boy is getting rid of the undigested fruit as we speak"

"Oh Stathon? I guess we reached Broken-Blade Fort then, what else is happening?"

"Looks like that Oni you like to visit while transformed is going to fight the boy who was quaking in his boots before"

"Oh the kid, huh, I always wanted a little brother. I hope he joins our little family"

"That desperate to make sure he doesn't do the same fun things you did?"

"Yeah- Well I changed my life for the better, and, I almost feel like he had a similar sheltered life"

"For this world, yes, but there is much more to him than you may realize. When you get the chance, see if you can track down his heritage, it's not completely- Oh what am I saying, I want it to be a surprise"

"Okay, uh, um, you could have just said 'be that older sibling'?"

"Don't question me, I am a god, we make no mistakes"

Enda was right when she said all gods are selfish by nature, that they believe every move they make is the right one.

It is nice to hear I'll be able to alter my body though.

There are just some things that are easier as a guy. I was a guy before I died, I felt uncomfortable in this new body with very different parts. Don't judge me.

"Looks like you might wake up soon, if that Oni goes too far, again"

"Nah she wouldn't, I know she can get angry but she'll cool off"

"Well, while you're here is there anything you want to get off your chest?"

There were more than a few things I wanted to talk about, or I guess rant about would be the right way of describing it.

It was my own fault, my own expectations, but it drove me up the wall regardless.

This world didn't work like earth, despite the same name.

Way too much random stuff here revolved around the number seven, it's honestly crazy.

For example, there are no months, but seven seasons, that's insane!

Not just that though, time was calculated a bit differently here as well, seventy seconds in a minute, seventy minutes to an hour, twenty eight hours in a day, seven days a week, seven weeks a season.

It wasn't confusing, but it was mind breaking.

Thinking about it felt like I was about to start pinning notes to a board and connecting them with string.

"You know I can hear your thoughts right? At least here I can, I respect your piracy outside, but here we play by my rules ok?"

The feeling I was familiar with returned, the feeling I had nicknamed 'God's Gambit'.

It was always like hearing a high pitch noise, that someone I cared for was in danger, the kind that was life threatening.

"Well, bye now. I'm sure I'll see you soon enough hehe"

The world was in front of me once again, only in black and white with mixes of gray.

I'm not strong, I can't even match one of Enda's copies in strength, barely losing to regular adventures in an arm wrestle.

But I'm fast.

When I'm fast the world loses all color and it almost stands still entirely.

I can't always control my ability, it only works when someone else's life is in danger I care about or I eat one of those 'berserker fruits'.

I pulled my Tachi off its launching peg on my left bracer, a little invention of my own for the unique relic that chose me.

A Tachi without a scabbard, with its blade entirely broken into small metal shards that connected through magical energy, I could use it like a whip as well, but I wasn't exactly sure who to use one.

So instead I used that quirk as a way to attach it with enchantments that worked like magnets on the padded impact armor Enda made for me while I had a proper scabbard made with the release runes for a quickdraw.

That Tachi, by it' own nature as a longer, more curved katana and my small arms meant if I wanted to quickly draw it like a katana, well it's simply not possible, not for me.

I blame my Japanese mum's obsession with a character in a period drama she liked, the swordsmith's wife, and her love for the Nara and Heian period.

The little time we spent together, she always talked about it, or had a show playing. She was a history buff in that way, even if she screeched at the tv about a show's inaccuracies.

"My robes?"

There was no time to put them on, but it means I might kick up a bit of wind.

I thought Ota's life was in danger, but it was the boy with no name.

She had gone too far, she was guiding a dagger right at his heart, the one I gave her in my fox form.

It was meant as a way to protect herself from the horrors she dealt with daily living at a brothel, not as a way to protect her pride.

I'd have to talk to her in this form after.

Rushing forward, holding my Tachi over my head, I performed a simple overhead strike cutting the blade then slowing down my momentum.

At this speed gravity did not work the way I thought it would, like how in movies they ran around in slow motion, in reality it put massive strain on my body, like the world got heavier if the ground was iced over.

The only way to stop was to shatter that ice, or hit something.

Not the ideal way to stop, but one I've done before, the padding really helps.

Standing still, breathing deeply, calming my nerves and clearing my mind, I return to normal speed.

*bang*

Crap, I went faster than sound again.

Looks like they are both fine though, uh, maybe not Ota?

She got sent flying right into a log that got hollowed out we use as a seat, snapping it in two.

Hmm, nah she's ok, she's a tough cookie. This world has insane power scaling probably, then again I'm probably part of that issue, even if I hate cutting people so I cut weapons instead.

Huh? Enda's hurt? Well I doubt it was really her, maybe a copy?

13 is fine...

Oh, I hear it, I guess that means one of them was chosen.

First time I get to see someone else get one, I wonder who got it and what. Maybe the boy, not sure how I feel about Ota getting one after almost killing the kid.

Huh? No, I hear two, well then.

"I guess congratulations are in order, I've never seen two at the same time, but there's a first for everything, isn't there?"

I live with Enda in a tower at the highest point in Dragons Mort, it wasn't just a clock tower for the entire city with really cool water magic that allowed an enchantment on a plate to show a reflection of the time for anyone to use within range, but it doubled as an armory.

I spent plenty of time looking over each weapon, she even had a restricted section of relics that were dangerous to the user.

Apparently each relic held a fragment from a dead god, as insane as that sounds.

She also left a copy of herself in that armory, my gut tells me both those relics came from that area, it's setup so she can't ensure if a relic picks someone, she can make sure it won't kill them when they pick it up, it's not built for doing 2 at a time.

*thud* *thud*

Oh, these ones.

Ota could probably handle the 'Heart of Defiance', not sure about the boy's one. It had a name, in fact, it had more than a few names.

That grip was the same weapon that beheaded the dragon my home is built upon.

It was a weapon capable of changing to any other, only limited by the user's own 'energy'.

Quite an interesting relic, for someone to get the most use out of it, well it has killed people before.

Mana, Aura, hell even Faith, the weapon took it all as a power source.

It tended to favor users who knew how to use the different forms it could take.

Meaning experienced weapon fanatics are the only type of person that weapon would choose and those types spent more time with weapons then training any sort of magic to increase their own capacity.

I think I'll call it something else, 'Thousand Cuts'.

Just like this boy, it has no real name, just names given by others.

I can only hope he survives.

"Don't pick that up!"

Huh, does she not think he can wield it?

He passed out sure, but he's fine, I think? Yeah no, he'll be right.

Kitsune's intuition.

Looks like Ota has fused with the Heart of Defiance, she'll make good use of it. In a way it's rather similar to Thousand cuts, just a bit more personal.

At least she's already used to being called a monster, now she'll have a heart, or a guess core, like one as well.

That relic will act as her new heart and create armor for herself.

Unlike thousand cuts, it used emotions as fuel, as long as her feelings were strong, she could create something strong enough to withstand my attacks all over her body.

Wait a minute, pretty sure I also predicted this as well!

"Fufu, more money for me"

Whoops, I didn't mean to say that out loud.

My very own custom card readings, a way I convinced Enda to give me some pocket money.

Pure luck based, heart of the cards, that sort of thing.

What can I say I like to gamble?

"Argh of course I was too late, Arisu, can you grab the Newt drawn carriage? I'll bring these two out and we'll go home. *sigh* It's not even lunch and so much has happened, pain in my ass..."

Ah Newts, not the kind used in a witches brew mind you, but a rather big lizard thing.

So many creatures that were small back at, well where I was human, had become big or distorted through god knows how.

Strange this world no longer has horses either, it does have beast-kin that I can only guess evolved from horses.

"What happened while I was out? Wait is that girl-"

"Take her with you, while you were asleep you saved all three, she is your problem now"

The Japanese girl.

Wait, while I was asleep?

Now I'm confused, oh don't tell me, she did it, didn't she.

"What's your name? I'd rather not fight someone who looks like- Never mind"

"M-Makino Tsumugi"

"Ahh, hmm, well it's nice to meet you, I'm Himura Arisu"

"S-sor, ah no, Please forgive me!"

"Huh, what's this about?"

"I-I I mean I tried to attack you, I called you-"

"It's fine, don't worry about it-"

I appreciate the sentiment, but bowing down in apology made me sick, it reminded me of my old self and our house maids.

"-why don't you sit at the front with me? I want to get to know you, outside of the influence of another"

"W-What do y-you mean?"

"I guess they really didn't tell you how that armor you wore works... oh well. Anyway follow me, let's grab some wheels"