"Sweet Mira Above."

 

 

 

 

Reed was looking up at Ryan, who was standing in front of the chair he was sitting in. Ryan turned around at the exclamation, gave Reed a double take, then staggered a few feet away, "Jumping Jimmity Cricket Christ On A Crutch!" His eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

 

Reed looked equally surprised, "What the...?" He immediately closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to the sides of his temples, ~Ryan, can you hear my thoughts? Are you still inside my head?~

 

Ryan took another two steps back, "Holy fudge, yes I can hear your thoughts, but I'm NOT inside your head!" He immediately started to touch his body all over, "My..." He held up his hands and flipped them over, before rolling up his sleeves, "They're back. My scars are back!"

 

Charity and Monica looked at each other, then back to the pair. Monica spoke first, "Reed?"

 

Both Ryan and Reed looked at Monica and spoke in Unison, "Yes?"

 

Ryan smacked his forehead, "Ooo. Sorry. I guess I'm not Reed anymore." He smiled, "Just Ryan." He turned back to Reed, "Hey. Does this mean we're separate now?"

 

Reed looked at his own hands then up at Ryan, "I don't know. I just know that the demon core has been acting odd since we grew back."

 

Ryan frowned, "Grew... back?"

 

Reed nodded, "Yes. That blast of flame burned us away completely. I... think because I'm used to being dead it didn't bother me as much. All that remained was the demon core. It fell and was buried with debris when the crater caved in. Then I felt it... regrowing a body but..." He rubbed his head, "I couldn't hold on."

 

Ryan opened his mouth and took a step closer to Reed, but abruptly felt a wave of nausea wash over him, "Oof." He covered his mouth like he was about to vomit, "I'm... not-"

 

In a flash of red light, Ryan vanished. In the same instant, a flash of red pulsed from Reed's chest.

 

Reed abruptly took a deep breath and flailed about for a second as he looked around franticly, "WHAT THE FRICK WAS THAT?" Then grabbed his head as he doubled over and tried not to vomit.

 

Monica got up and rushed over, "Okay. That's it! You... both of you?" She looked at Charity in confusion. Charity just shrugged back. Monica turned to Reed, "Both of you, get in bed. Lie down. Something is going on and you need to rest so you don't make this any worse!"

 

Ryan/Reed was in no position to argue. They allowed themselves to be led to a bed where Monica helped him lie down. The noise attracted the nurses who poked their heads inside, "is everything alright?"

 

Before Anyone else could respond, Ryan spoke up, "No. But I think I know who to ask for help."

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Bring me the Saintess."

 

 

 

-----

 

 

 

"[Astral What?]"

 

 

 

The Saintess looked nervous. Ryan had made it clear he would not tolerate any harm coming to her. She was, after all, someone from his world. In the past, he made some attempts to contact her, but she always made excuses, so he let it go. He didn't know why at the time and worried about his own problems. Now, things had changed and her life was at risk. She had been joined at the hip with Arthur and so many people wondered what her part was in his insurrection. Regardless of all that, The saintess had information that Ryan needed.

 

 

Specifically, she had played the otome game, Twice The Prince.

 

 

"[The demon lord would appear periodically to fight, but when you killed him, he just disappeared. The reason in the game was that he was able to astrally project and make a new body. As long as he wasn't killed with the Holy Sword, he'd just reform. Eventually, you get the holy sword, kill his projection, he's forced back to his body, and then you get to fight him one more time.]" The saintess explained in Japanese, so nobody else knew what the two were talking about.

 

"[So... you think I managed to absorb the demon lord's powers, and now I can astrally project and form a new body?]"

 

The Saintess nodded while trying to avoid Ryan's eyes, "[I assume it cost him mana because, in one encounter in particular, you can just outlast him. Eventually, he runs out of power and has to vanish.]" She smirked ruefully, "[It was an achievement.]" Her smile faded, "[I assume if you get good at it, you can leave Reed's body for quite a while. I don't know the specifics. Have you tried to buy it up in the status window?]"

 

"[Status window?]" Ryan quirked an eyebrow.

 

She nodded, "[Yes. Don't... you have one?]"

 

Ryan looked into the distance and said, "[Status.]" Nothing happened. He looked back at her, "[Nope.]"

 

The Saintess frowned, "[Status.]" She looked off to the side, "[I can see it, right there.]" She reached up to touch empty air, at least from everyone else's point of view. She lowered her hand and scratched her chin thoughtfully, "[I wonder why you don't have one?]"

 

Ryan shrugged, "[A main character only thing, I assume.]"

 

This caused the saintess to fall into herself, lowering her head as she hunched her shoulders, "[I-I-I-I'm sorry I thought-]"

 

Ryan clapped his hands, interrupting the saintess. She looked up as he spoke, "[You assumed it was just like the game. If I could see a status window appear when I said 'status', I might think I was in a game as well.]"

 

She dropped her gaze, "[If I kill myself, do you think I'll go home?]"

 

Ryan froze for a second, then reached out to grab her by both shoulders, "[NO.]" She looked up, a little surprised by the emotion behind his denial. He locked eyes with her, "[I've killed myself several times. Not, got close to death, yet survived. I mean, passed beyond the veil. You do not want to kill yourself. EVER. You want to avoid death as much as possible!]"

 

"[Is it my fault?]"

 

"[No. I don't know how we got here, or why, I suspect... I have an idea, but it's just a guess. It's something the all-father said when we were talking. I think... maybe there's a black market, of sorts.]" He moved to sit next to her and put an arm around her, "[I think we were poached. Or... maybe they were just gunning for you, and I and the other guy just got caught up in it.]"

 

"[I'm sorry to get you involved.]"

 

Ryan flicked her ear. She reflexively covered it while looking annoyed. Ryan frowned, "[Did you kill my wife and daughter? Did you make me suicidal? Did you arrange for that truck?]" He boop'd her on the nose, "[I don't think so.]"

 

"[Why did everything go wrong? I tried to follow the game as close as I could.]"

 

Ryan scratched his chin, "[I... suspect that was me and Tom's fault. Although I can't imagine how the game was supposed to work. This is a war between angels and demons. Why would the demons stick to a script? If me and Tom weren't here, would this world follow the game? Did the game look into the future, or is there some sort of force pushing events along a predetermined path, and the more you mess with things, the more screwed up it gets?]" He shrugged, "[Damned if I know. Something I want to ask the All-father, but apparently he's busy.]"

 

~This is insane.~ Reed commented.

 

Ryan glanced to the side, "Preaching to the choir." He turned back to the Saintess, "[What's your name, anyways?]"

 

The Saintess squinted a little as she furrowed her eyebrows, "[Been a while... D...Date Hideko.]" Her face brightened as she remembered.

 

Ryan's smile mirrored hers, "[Ryan Yauger. A pleasure to meet you.]"

 

Hideko closed her eyes and bowed her head slightly as she softly replied, "[Please take care of me.]" She frowned as she returned to speaking normally, "What's going to happen now?"

 

Ryan took a deep breath, "Now... you're under my protection. No matter what you did, you're a Japanese Citizen and as an American military officer, I have an obligation to protect you."

 

Charity had recovered enough to check on Lily while the two talked. When the conversation returned to a language she could understand, she commented, "Re... Ryan, I don't know if you can make decisions about that. She was involved in supporting an insurrection. When the king awakens-"

 

Ryan's face grew cold, "Neither of us made a choice to be brought here. Any actions she took were to survive after being placed in an impossible situation. I'm sure some sort of reduction in privileges is in order, but imprisonment or worse is off the table." He made a slicing motion with his hand, "And that's the end of it."

 

Monica frowned, "Ryan... That blind spot you have for little girls is-"

 

"NOT an issue." Ryan shook his head slightly, "She's Japanese. Japan is an ally of America. I'm an American soldier. You hurt her, you answer to me. PERIOD."

 

Charity and Monica both looked rather surprised by this declaration. Hideko looked equally shocked, but her expression quickly turned to that of relief, followed by her bursting into tears. She abruptly buried her head into Ryan's chest.

 

Ryan looked surprised by her reaction but quickly realized that this was more due to stress than grief and gently patted her on the back, "There-there. It's a'rite now."

 

As the saintess cried herself to the point of exhaustion into Ryan's chest, Ryan tried his best to comfort her.

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Monica and Charity silently exchanged rather grim glances.