Pov Nadia:
Feeling myself being shaken, I groaned, "10 more minutes." before dozing off again snuggling closer to the warmth.
*FFFFF* *Yipe! Wawawa* Unconsciously I teleported across the room and extended shadow claws while bearing my canines.
Seeing Zoey's flabbergasted and somewhat amused face and realizing that I was growling, I quickly straightened myself out while my face heated up in shame.
"Sorry, shouldn't have blown into your ear, but in self defense, I spent 5 minutes trying to wake you up. 'Probably shouldn't admit that I have been silently fawning over her adorableness as she slept for the past hour. Her soft fur and warmth is very effective at draining motivation to get up.'" [Zoey]
Why she was slightly blushing when she said that went above my groggy mind.
Just staring at her while waiting for her to say anything, I started to worry about how she would react to me sneaking into bed with her, knowing I was in the wrong, as well as seeing my powers (with darkness having prejudice against it).
'Was she fine with it, does she not care? Is she disappointed with me, will she yell at me now? Does she hate me now? Please don’t let it be hate.' With each thought, my ears and tail drooped lower and lower. Tears gathering into my eyes.
Seeing my dilemma, Zoey lept across the room and gave me a hug, stroking the back of my head, whispering in a soothing tone, "You’re ok, you don't need to worry. I won't hurt you."
I just cried, relieved that she didn't just abandon me and kick me out right away.
"You aren't afraid of me?" I asked in a small voice.
She suddenly snorted, causing me to flinch.
In a sardonic voice she stated, "I fight villains and invaders from the other dimension for a living. I have even seen a greater demon wielding light magic. There is no way you with your adorable features are going to scare me away."
"So you won't leave me?" I softly said with some hope in my voice.
Hugging me a little tighter, she snorted and in a low husky voice said, "It's the other way around. Now that I caught you, I will never let you go, cutie."
I blushed heavily at her words. It was official, if before I had a crush on her, with those words, she stole my heart.
I wasn't smooth with words, so I just hugged her with tears of joy in my eyes.
"Thanks," I whispered.
Suddenly my stomach roared in its protest at being empty. We just stared at each other, then started laughing.
Still wheezing, Zoey gasped and said, "Let's go and get some breakfast."
Hearing the word breakfast, I perked up with my tail lightly wagging. Then I pumped my fist into the air with a small hop, "Let's go!" I excitedly exclaimed, quickly headed down the hall.
I did not see Zoey behind me place her hands over her heart.
'Guh, will she stop with the adorable surprise attacks, I don't know how much more cuteness my heart can handle.'[Zoey]
For breakfast, we had waffles this time, as well as the divine scrumptiousness.
After our meal together, in a slightly subdued voice I asked, "So, what now?" 'I don't want to end our time together, however, I also can't interfere with her life, I don't even know her work schedule.'
"Well…" she said, pausing to think. "Since I decided to retire early and sent my resignation letter in,-"
I cut her off before she could continue and rapid fired in surprise, "You quit your job! Why? And when did you even have the time to do that?"
Pausing for a moment, she replied, "Well, when I woke up, there was this cute little critter in my bed…" she teased.
*wawawa* As she said that, I felt my face heat up in embarrassment as I reached for my tail, bringing it to my face to hide my blush.
'Hehe, that's sooo adorable, I should tease her more.' She continued, "...and since I did not want to wake her up, I got to thinking about our conversation last night."
"I have been tired of all the b.s. with the government. Since they have everything under control, just let them do what they want. I have already given my warning, and if they don't want to listen, then that is on them."
"I, as the Last Heiress of the Grimm clan, declare that the mantle of protecting this world from the other, is now given up, and the future of this generation and those to come will be decided by whoever picks up those duties."
Suddenly I felt a bit of my power rush out of me, and a pulse of dark lightning spread around the world. A message appeared on everyone's screen (and a few ancient tablets) declaring,
"THE LAST CLAN WHICH WAS PART OF A PROMISE TO PROTECT THIS WORLD HAS GIVEN UP THEIR DUTY. THE FUTURE IS NOW IN YOUR HANDS."
Looking at the message on the screen that popped out of her watch, she then stared out the window into the distance, and sarcastically stated, "Well, that is not ominous."
I just cringed knowing I was the cause, but not why my powers suddenly went out of control. Luckily she didn’t see my look of guilt for being the cause of chaos.
Still staring off into space, in a distant voice she said, "Clan legend has it that right before the divine being of our world abandoned it -long, long before the other world’s god died and caused today's chaos- a few clans were chosen to be protectors, with my clan being one of them. That day, after making the vow, rainbow lightning spread around the world announcing the new protectors via what was then called by oracle or prophecy. The divine being said that by divine law, we were now officially protectors of the world, and only we can give up that right, it can not be forcefully taken."
Sardonically she stated, "I guess there was some truth to that legend, though with there being no divine being, I guess the divine law would react weirdly.”
Before I could feel more guilty, a loud beep rang through the room, causing me to jump.
Bringing up the culprit, which was my watch, I saw that I had received one new message. Curious, I tapped on it to see that it was from “Big Sis”.
Opening the message to read it, It stated:
Hello Nadia, it’s me.
It has come to my attention that the voice of the world, or v.o.w. for short, has been activated, which is what we divine beings use when we want to message the mortals.
Knowing you would blame yourself, I sent you this to say that it is not your fault. That was an automated response I set up for when certain conditions are reached, however, as the world dried up of mana, the v.o.w. needed to recharge by drawing on the nearest deity, which happened to be you.
The reason the lightning was dark was because the mana was dyed by your divinity drawn directly from you, and not the pure raw mana you naturally release to the world.
Anyways, without getting into too many technicalities that you will eventually learn, everything that just happened was my fault. I forgot I set that up before ascending to a multiversal deity. Sorry for not warning you of it.
On that note, now that you are connected to the v.o.w., You can now send messages to the world whenever you would like, whether it is something serious or just a prank. Not using it is fine as well, it is up to you. Have Fun!
Your big sis, Iris.
Closing the text, I sighed in relief.
“What was that about?”[Zoey]
“That was a text from big sis saying that everything was ok.”
“You have a sister?” she asked.
I responded, “She isn’t a sister related by blood, I just call her big sis because she is always taking care of me. You could say she adopted me as her little sister.”
“That’s neat, and I am glad that she is ok, especially with what just happened.”
Thinking of the chaos that message would cause, I just replied with a soft "yeah."
After a short pause of silence, I awkwardly said, "Well, what now."
Giving me a concerned look, "I imagine that there are going to be some riots and chaos going on in the city right now. I don't think it is safe for you to leave right now."
Thinking for a moment, Zoey said, "How about we watch a couple of movies while waiting for things to settle."
Thinking about being close to Zoey for a day, my heart started pumping in excitement as my tail started wagging. "Sure, let's do that." I said, maybe a bit too excitedly.
"Someone sure is excited for a movie" Zoey teased while wiggling her eyebrows suggestively, not missing my true motive at all.
I froze as I realized that I was found out, then I blushed while steam poured out of my ears and I covered my face with my hands in embarrassment. *wawawa*
Too embarrassed to function and wanting to hide, I crouched and hid my face into my tail.
Unfortunately I was not given enough time to cool down, and I squeaked as Zoey suddenly lifted me in a princess carry and brought me to the couch in front of the TV.
Now in Zoey's lap, I pouted and whined, "unfair", before burying my face into her chest in embarrassment when I realized how close to her face I was.
Feeling her gentle yet firm hands stroking my head, she replied, "I am sorry, but you are just too adorable. You don't know how hard it is to resist abducting and mofu mofuing you.”
I blushed again when she said that.
After cooling down a bit, I snuggled by Zoey’s side as we watched a few G rated movies, chatted, and gossiped through the day.
When it was late and we checked the news, there was still rioting going on in the city (Luckily there was a family safe site where blood is not shown). Since it was still hectic, Zoey said, “It would be for the best if you stayed over for the night.”
Suddenly shy, shifting from foot to foot while hugging my tail, I sheepishly asked, “Would it be alright if I slept with you again?”
Hugging me gently, Zoey softly said, “Of course you can.”
After Zoey got settled into bed, I snuggled in beside her and closed my eyes.
With her hugging me close to her and softly stroking my head while humming a soothing melody, I drifted off to sleep.
It nice to see when people get tired of the BS and just leave the toxic environment.
She has left, that is true... however, is it so easy for an S rank hero to be left alone? *smirk*
@Stealthy_Enigma Depends on what her situation was... an S rank hero is a double edged blade. For the time being, they're going to be needing to fend of armies of recruiters, especially once MC inadvertently reveals just how OP she is. S rank hero waifu is going to protecc her even harder after that, *especially* since MC just got her powers and thus doesn't have perfect control. (as seen in the dark magic being released on instinct)
I think that'll last a few weeks at most, then the government's going to give up and try assassination, since if they can't have her, nobody can. At that point, the pair will have to flee, most likely either through a portal to another world or to MC's shack. If they go the latter, MC's going to need to bust her ass with her power, growing up very quickly. If they do the former, let the slow life commence ~
I'd love for this story to take a more slice-of-life route, having fled to another world, because if they stay behind, they're likely to get caught eventually, and that would keep a depressive and stressed tone over the story the entire time. who know? maybe they discover a similar society in the other world of Heroes and the such, and they traverse back and forth between the new world and the Earth world every now and then :D
Government pov next chapter
We'll see, maybe after a couple of chapters of fluff. After all, the chaos needs some time to ramp up to the point I am envisioning. *lightning strikes, muahahaha!!!*
What if she uses her dark magic to make a mask that would cover her eyes and still let her see, but censor out any blood?
Thanks for the chapter~.
'Guh, will she stop with the adorable surprise attacks, I don't know how much more cuteness my heart can handle.'[Zoey]
I have a feeling that after a while Zoey will probably get addicted to it, right?
I wonder if the announcement of "v.o.w." will it be enough for the government to realize that they've shot themselves in the foot by treating the protective clans like this, or if it's going to take some disaster like a giant monster invasion for them to stop their arrogance and self-denial.
Thanks for the chapter
Given how governments tend to work in history, most likely not.
Unless you've got an extremely proactive government, they'll drag their feet every which way and delay as much as possible. (That's the main problem of having large governments - large delays.) Thus, it's likely that they'll either pretend to compensate and fake their attempts at reconcile (after all, the clans have given up, and thus there is no real reason to appease them anymore) or straight up go japanese interment camps of WW2 and imprison everyone related to the clans so they can't flee to other nations. Human rights groups will cry rivers of blood, but ultimately a government is stronger than interests groups, so nothing will get done there. This is because as of now, the clans are now a neutral, if not possibly *hostile* group of individuals, and while reaction to clans will vary from country to country, that's how it'll playout in some countries I think.
Once a giant monster invasion occurs, the government will lose a few cities and a lot of land, realize that the clans were actually somewhat useful, but then chuck their military at the invasion. Trust-wise, they're still more likely to trust their own military compared to the neutral and possibly hostile clan members, and thus the military will take on unprecedented casualties and destruction.
Once destruction hits an irreversible point that the government's risks of losing more machines, bullets, and lives outweighs their distrust of the clans, only then will the government start releasing them. Arming them is debatable, but at least releasing them. Only then can the clans start re-building the trust which was lost, since the government isn't going to be proactive.
Meanwhile, MC's probably snuggled up with FL in some god-like bunker eating pockey sticks together while snuggling under a good blanket, watching romcoms.
@aidan_lo Would the government really risk taking such drastic measures bearing in mind that the "v.o.w." has already proven itself capable of ratting them out to the public at any time without them being able to do anything to stop it?
Also, isn't trying to imprison clan members the same as admitting the importance of clans and that they don't have as much control over the situation as they claim?
...you mean they would make the clans fight unarmed or just not provide them with any weapons other than what they originally had?
...the clans rebuild trust? But isn't the government the one that needs to rebuild trust even more than the clans?
After all, the situation would only escalate to this point due to them arrogantly continuing to refuse to heed the declarations and warnings of the clans and acknowledge how ancient and important their existence is, right?
@Gin_Otamegane
1) yes. as of now, the government has history of imprisoning people who haven't done anything yet (and are arguably still contributing to society) on the basis of possible opponents. The clans are dissatisfied and have given up on them. VOW be damned since the VOW can't directly punish them. for the public, there's always propaganda.
2) the clans have already established their importance, per VOW announcement. The imprisonment is them telling the world they've got the clans under control.
3) depends on what the stance is. when the japanese were released from internment camps, they didn't get much. The clans won't get much either, if anything.
4) the clans are at a disadvantageous position here - nation vs groups of peoples. whoever is the smaller dog has the requirement of sucking up to the larger one, or becoming strong enough that the larger dog cannot keep them under complete control. The government has the power here - they have imprisoned the clans and could do it again.
Of course, it should be the government who rebuilds the trust with the clans, but this is unlikely since the government already has the military as its fighting force.
5) yes, we'll see how it goes. I'm just assuming the government ignores the clans entirely until it gets super bad.
@aidan_lo
1) yes. as of now, the government has history of imprisoning people who haven't done anything yet (and are arguably still contributing to society) on the basis of possible opponents. The clans are dissatisfied and have given up on them. VOW be damned since the VOW can't directly punish them. for the public, there's always propaganda.
What would be the government's likely reaction if VOW announced something like "Your government has jailed your former protectors due to their refusal to continue working overtime in the shadows for free without even being recognized for it, as they did in previous centuries." ?
2) the clans have already established their importance, per VOW announcement. The imprisonment is them telling the world they've got the clans under control.
And also this isn't the same as the government telling the world that now clans can't resume their work even if they want to, if the government doesn't allow it first, right?
3) depends on what the stance is. when the japanese were released from internment camps, they didn't get much. The clans won't get much either, if anything.
Are you referring to compensation? Or that the government would deliberately make their last hope after losing most of their army, go fight without enough resources to use all their power even when the giant monsters are already dangerously close to them and they can't afford to use their trump card as sacrifice pawns?
4) the clans are at a disadvantageous position here - nation vs groups of peoples. whoever is the smaller dog has the requirement of sucking up to the larger one, or becoming strong enough that the larger dog cannot keep them under complete control. The government has the power here - they have imprisoned the clans and could do it again.
But that's just because the clans were reluctantly letting themselves be put on a leash until now due to their oath, and forcing themselves to put up with the uncooperative and glory-stealing government, right?
Not to mention, that clans have the advantage of having countless ancient arts and unknown spells that the hard-headed government refused to recognize, right?
For example clans could use types of illusions that the military is totally ignorant of to outwit them so they can run away without even having to fight, right?
5) yes, we'll see how it goes. I'm just assuming the government ignores the clans entirely until it gets super bad.
This I can understand. But if they want to ignore the clans to show that they aren't important why not leave them alone, rather than go through the extra trouble of trying to imprison them without cause, just to flaunt their tyrannical authority?
@Gin_Otamegane you make good points. I'm probably just too disgruntled and projecting here. great chat!
@aidan_lo And why did you get disgruntled?
If VOW announced to the world a message like the one below would it be enough to turn not only human rights groups against the government but also labor rights groups?
"Your government has jailed your former protectors due to their refusal to continue working overtime in the shadows for free without even being recognized for it. They got tired of having all their alerts and warnings about phenomena, invasions, etc ignored by the government, until it became an emergency having to work even harder because of it and on top of that having their credit and glory stolen without receiving anything for it."
@Gin_Otamegane School was a pain and I vented here on accident. My apologies.