Welcome to Ambrosia!

[Guu]

Guu made a call to Sylvia, informing her that she’s at the Tangled gate that she should bring three chocobos along with her. The trio snack on Mochi Ice Cream (or mostly just Molly) and chitchat as they wait for their rides.

“So Desco is with her dad?” Carn asked.

“Yep, she’ll be along when she’s done with whatever he’s doing.”

It stung her a little bit to be reminded, still regretful for leaving poor Desco behind in that frightful place. She still had a twinge of fear that her friend maybe in pain at the hands of a madman. Thankfully, an inquisitive Molly quickly broke up her thoughts.

“Um, so, who’s Desco?” Butted in Molly, curious.

“Oh, she’s my best friend, in the omniverse at least.” Guu responded promptly. “She’s a demon.”

Molly’s eyes widened. Noting the girl’s response, Guu pulled out her cell phone and showed her a picture. The sight of a cheerful little girl younger than herself relieved much of her fears.

“She’s nine btw.” The pink princess added.

“Wow, I never expected a demon to look like that!” Molly said, amused.

“Well, I tend to attract the unique. Even our demon is unique. Wait until you two see the Kingdom. It’s great.”

Suddenly, a teenage gothic girl riding a giant bird appeared around the bend pulling along several other giant birds. She spots Guu and smiles, double-timing her pace.

As soon as she was close, she dismounted her bird and immediately ran up to the pink-haired princess, kneeling down to give her a big ol’ hug. She did not even hesitate to reciprocate the hug leaving both Molly and Carn a bit surprised at the tender moment considering how the pink one has portrayed herself thus far. Sylvia eventually pulled away. And looked her in the eyes.

“It’s been too long Guu.” The gothic second in command said.

“Yes, it has.” The pink princess responded, a little bit of a small genuine smile escaped her dull visage. Sylvia stood up and straightened herself out, turning her attention to the other two.

“So who are they? I was expecting Desco and Gildarts.”

“Oh, the little one is Molly, she’s the little girl I mentioned in the e-mail.” Guu said plainly.

“Oh! The friend of Gildarts! And the other?”

“That’s Carn, he’s an acquaintance from the DA pre-show.”

“Well, if the Princess welcomes you, then I welcome you. Come along, I brought mounts.”

The four climb on their chocobo. Guu stretched her way onto her noble steed, Scoots. Molly had to be helped onto her’s; mentioning the oddity of riding a funny chicken. Togther, they ride off to the south.


After a while, the city comes into view. As they rode towards main street, Guu couldn’t help but feel a warm sense of familiarity as she could see the old rustic buildings which contrasted starkly with it’s tech-savvy and unusual people.

She was home.


As she rode into town, she immediately noted some new faces. It appears a lot of new animal humanoids have moved in. They have doubled, maybe even tripled in population since she last was here.

She also noticed that one of the buildings had burned down. It was out of sight of the other two; she only picked it up because of her senses. She decided not to ask, as it would spoiled the moment and would have scared her new guests.

As they got further into town, people start to notice the presence of their princess. One by one, they dropped what they were doing and slowly, they formed an every increasing crowd, each on cheering her name, overjoyed to see their Guu once more.

Eventually, Guu stopped her chocobo and dismounted. The other three quickly followed. The Pink princess did a polite curtsie for the crowd, who broke into a loud cheer.

“I’ve missed you all, I’m so glad to be home.” She said with a small smile. “The dark one is Carn, the young one is Molly. Treat them like members of the village for they are friends. With that said, long live Ambrosia!”

The town yelled out with good feelings and cheer, as the warm feeling encompassed her entire body, he face grew scarlet. People, animals, and moogles move in to greet Carn and Molly, overjoyed to meet the new visitors. She was happy to be with her people again. It’s been too long.

[Gildarts]

Molly listened and smiled, playing the good girl in a pink dress as she was named an ally of the admirable bloke, Gildarts.

So far, her chance encounter had taken her on a lucky adventure. She had met people who kept saying her objective's name, as well as met a strange creature called 'Carn.'

Carn, she observed, seemed hungry. She couldn't help but to wonder if he wanted to steal her mochi icecream. She had bundled as many as she could in her small ten year old hands, yet remained eyeing the powerful creature who she assumed was a Prime

Next Sylvia, one of Guu's cool friends was introduced, then on a screen Molly got a glimpse at another Ambrosia member. Desco, Molly matched the name with the face, and recalled the screen time the demon girl had gotten on Dante's Abyss.

It was utterly frustrating. Everyone had seen Gildarts, except her.

Yet there to soothe the pain was something she had sought in Gildarts. The youth had never acknowledged how she felt about her orphaned past. Molly saw the same look as it flickered in Guu's eyes. It was a joyful love.

...

Her smacking palms formed claps and cheers that mingled in with the rest of the crowd's sound. Carn remained on her right, as Molly resolved to offer him one of her ice cream balls. "Here you go. Strawberry is my favorite." She didn't admit she hadn't been sharing, but rather offered the ball out of good spirit. A few other youths crowded around Guu's homecoming, as well as many new faces greeted the friends.

[Carn_Val]

Sitting still beside the being called Molly, I had nothing to do but look around to comply to the unnecessary attention. I didn't plan or expect to meet this much people on my first travel outside of the Nexus but I had to do what I usually do best, talking nonsense. "Thanks for having us here, people. I'm Carn and Carn is greatful." I do a small bow of courtesy before continuing. "Well, if you don't mind, I'll eat a little, " I say once I spot the little girl offering her food. I slowly, very slowly approach the item and swiftly take all of it in my mouth. Scooping the food with my tongue, I pull the girl's arm out my mouth full of drool, careful enough for my teeth to spare her delicate skin.

Appreciating the freebie, I think back at the point where we rode in giant yellow chickens. Speaking of chickens, I totally want to eat a whole one now. As I looked around the trail towards Ambrosia, the vivid greens, vines, moss and wood were too natural compared to the forest in the Danteverse island. Compared to this, the island almost seemed fake. It didn't even have the lively hum of fauna indicating a rich and diverse ecosystem. The island did have life in it although, the animals themselves didn't seem to belong to the island. A regular sight for the residents but this is truly a magnificent sight for a being who lived most of its life in a floating block of dirt, brick and mortar under a twilight sky, the Event Horizon.

"Aw", I said once I accidentally bit my tongue from zoning out. Somehow, what I just did has the teenaged dwellers eyeing me again, a bit weird if you ask me. I can't help myself but open my loud mouth. I guess I'll tell them my plan, no?

"Guys! I actually want to stay here for a bit and maybe get used to daily life since, as you can see, I'm not from this place. I'm an anomaly, that's A-N-O-M-A-L-Y~" I paused with an imaginary facepalm once I realize I wasn't talking to infants, I didn't have to spell that out. "Oops, let's do that again. I'm an anomaly, and anomalies are, in summary, beings that represent great events in time. Upon my arrival here, I was tasked with gathering together most if not all of the stray anomalies roaming the Omniverse. You see, upon descent from the Zone, our home, anomalies develop a state of tangibility and mortality. We don't necessarily die, we can just feel tired, hungry and weak. I don't know what happens afterwards. I'm just sure that once an anomalies becomes too hungry, they cause havoc in their immediate vicinity. Exhaustion leads an anomaly into a deactivated state were it will be reduced to nothing but a black, crystal ball as big as a berry. I don't know what else to say about that."

Once I was done explaining the basics of the beings like me, I tell them the plan itself. "So, here's how it goes. I'll live here for a little while and once I have enough Omnillium, I'll make an extension of Ambrosia in the Ashen Steppes exclusively for anomalies since anomalies are pretty dangerous when astray. Don't worry, once the anomaly is deemed safe like me, they could function like regular Ambrosia citizens, yes?"

I walk around, handing out the calling cards I had made before the sign-up for DA. "I hope you guys contact me once you spot something unusual in Ambrosia, ok? It might be an stray anomaly." Once that was done, I somehow felt drowsy and faceplanted on my table. Orbo, my little camera orb companion started bumping on my head to wake me up and failed to do so...

Physically, I am asleep.

[Guu]

The crowd was silent, baffled at what the anomaly had just said. They thought they heard him say he’d join the city and live with them, but at the same time, they heard him talk about how his kind went ravenous without food. The people of Ambrosia were left baffled to what they should think; keeping their distance from the sleeping Carn.

Guu, who took in every word he said, understood. However, she kind of wished he pulled her aside to ask if it was okay to tell the whole city this before he actually did it. She facepalmed hard and made her way through the crowd. Standing between them and the anomaly, she turned to her people. Donning the most social face she could make, she spoke.

“Carn may not be the most well spoken, but his cause is noble. He wants to rescue his people from a life of savagery. He understands anyone is capable of redemption, and that’s a truth that Ambrosia is built on. Were you not once victims of prejudice yourselves?”

People start soaking in the princess’ words, some even nodding in agreement.

“When I first came here, many of you were behind bars, not for actual crimes, but for minor things like not following everything your parents say, or making too many tweets in one day.

“And our animal friends, I know you’ve face prejudice. The people of Camelot couldn’t even accept you as average citizens. That’s why you came here in the first place.

“Now think of his kind. The struggles they’ve faced. You think someone like that would blow over well in Camelot no matter his attitude? His people deserve a sanctuary too, and we are the ones that’ll give them one! Are you all with me?”

The crowd, many moved to tears, roars with cheer over the Princess’ inspiring words. Guu steps over and plops the unconscious Carn onto her back. Her face had transformed back to normal.

“Now if you excuse me, I need to take care of our new citizen!”

She dragged him off as the crowd continued to applaud. Sylvia and Molly follow close by to escort her. It didn’t take long until the four were clear from the crowds, which slowly dispersed back to their daily routine as she created distance from them.


-----


Eventually, she carried him all the way to a rundown restaurant at the edge of town. A flimsily hung sign designated it as “The Loco Lobo.”

“Why’d you bring him here?” Asked Sylvia.

“I know this place has a bedroom in the back.” Guu stated. “I would have taken him to the Palace, but I kind of thought he would need food when he woke up. If things are the same as the last time I was here, this is the only non-vegetarian place in town.”

She turned to Molly and chuckled.

“Kind of difficult to eat meat when over half of the population is made of said meat.”

She made her way inside.


The restaurant was about as rundown on the inside as it was in the out. At least it had a rustic feel to it. The place was pretty barren, looked like it’s barely had any customers in a while. Near the back in the cooking area was a mangy old grey wolf lady wearing an old brown dress. She had a number of scars over her face that cut into her fur, including one that ran down under her eye patch which obscured the left eye. She didn’t notice the princess at first, she focusing intently on pounding a chicken breast with a mallet.

Eventually, she noticed in the corner of her eye that she had guests. She dropped the mallet and made her way to the counter.

“Welcome to the Loco Lobo.” She said, her tone somewhat reminiscent of Guu’s, but a little bit more cheerful and warm. “My named is Cynthia the Wolf. What can I serve you-”

She suddenly jumped in surprise when she noticed that her Princess was standing right in front of her.

“Oh my god, Royalty! Royalty in my diner again!” She quickly rushed to the mirror to check her hair before going back to her spot. “I apologize, I didn’t know I’d have such an important guest today.”

Lowering Carn to the ground, Guu clasped her hands together and the Omnilirium starts coming out of her body and takes shape on the desk in front of her. Cynthia waited anxiously, not sure whether this was bad or good. Suddenly, a pile of Omnilirium coins appeared in front of her. Her eyes shimmered in delight.

“My friend here, Carn is a royal guest. He requires a nap in your guest room and a meal comprised of as many meats as he desires.”

“Yes ma’am! I think you know where my guestroom is.”

Guu dragged him into the back, laying him down a somewhat dirty bed in back. As she came back, she spoke up again.

“When he’s fully awake again, tell him that Ambrosia will aid him in his mission. Also tell him that he’s fully welcome as a member of town and he can come and stay at the Palace if he likes.”

“Yes ma’am!”


Guu, Molly, and Sylvia were walking side-by-side away from the restaurant. The young blonde girl moved up close to the princess, curious about something.

“Why is that place allowed to sell meat? Wouldn’t that mean killing some of your citizens?”

“She gets her meat from a ranch up north. None of the animals there are sentient and are pretty distant relatives of the ones that live with us.”

“Oh… So it’s okay then?”

“Yeah, it’s kind of the equivalent of a humans and monkeys in terms of ancestral link. Still creeps them out though.”

“Even most of the humans here have a hard time making the distinction.” Added Sylvia, who had only been listening in up until this point. “A lot of the teenagers, including myself, have been going vegetarian as we’ve gotten to know our animal neighbors more. Well, except for fish of course. The animals around here don’t mind eating fish.”

Silence fell between the three as they kept walking.


-----


Eventually, the three make it through the Ambrosian jungle sanctuary. They follow the path through and the palace that was ever present in the horizon slowly come larger and larger into view. Just as the expanse of the place becomes clear, Guu turns to molly, raising her arm in the air like an announcer.

“Miss Molly, welcome to Pokute Palace!”

[Gildarts]

Goop still drooped and dripped from her saliva covered arm. Molly held back the refreshing remark of her sass-filled thoughts and instead shook out her grossified hand.

Ick! Molly had thought that this was the consequence of sharing her mochi, but deep down she felt like Carn's quick enthusiasm seemed to be worth her sacrifice. Though it had not been enough to quell his hunger. She liked the anomaly, and appreciated that his sharp teeth hadn't snared her arm off. Then I'd be matching with Gildarts, but I think I would accessorize mine better. His is too gray. Mine would be bedazzled with gems and contoured with pink, obviously. As the young girl made these plans, Carn found his way over to a quaint looking restaurant, while Guu, the princess of Ambrosia, lead her to their castle. "Miss Molly, welcome to Pokute Palace!" Had been Guu's warm introduction.

It was a mansion, a GIANT mansion! Molly's eyes widened at the size. It far surpassed the building she used to work in, and the glass window panels made it shiny, transparent, and welcoming. A strange creature opened the door for Princess Guu, who in return, smiled at the Pokute and merely walked in. Molly, seemed much more hesitant and raised a brow. It had ears like a bunny and was a trustworthy pink, and wore a flashy white apron.

"Do they... Speak?" She whispered to the princess, but it was too low to be heard in their gust of movements.

Tourguide Guu showed Molly to a few of the more 'essential' rooms as they walked through. Her round arms modestly extended to the grand extravagance of it all. They passed by more doors than Molly could count, until one very important one flashed with lights. "... Oh yes, that's the game room." Guu turned to Molly before reading the fresh light that beamed from her face.

"Whoa!" Molly peeked in, demure excitement showed in her minute movements. "I know where I will be spending all of my time." Molly brought out her phone and clicked a few keys before it moved away from her nose when she was finished and met with Guu's expectant and raised eyebrows.

"We also have a few guest rooms.." Guu remarked as they made their way to that branch of the mansion and down the corridor. "If you'd like, you can stay here as long as you want."

Molly tried not to think that the offer was too good to be true, "Like, when Gildarts comes back and everything?"

"Well, his personality kind of makes him a bit of a lone wolf, but he'll be back sooner or later." Guu replied, delicately reiterating her offer for Molly to stay.

"But princess, this is your palace, wouldn't I be... Sort of crashing it?"

Guu simply opened the door, revealing the room. The bedset was pink, the pillows were fluffy and resembling marshmallows and there was a chair and a desk set up next to a corner and overlooking a window. Molly's eyes caught on the room before she stepped inside and noticed her name above her bed.

"Oh Guu, this can't be for me.." Molly almost teared up, she had never had a home before, nor has anyone given her such a meaningful gift. She reminded herself she was in the presence of loyalty but the smile of joy couldn't be taken from her face. "This is simply amazing, thank you so much princess Guu."

And with that, Molly's eyes widened. Every night they could have slumber parties, jump on the bed, and have epic pillow fights!

[Kuzuru]

A trail of blood followed Renji through the tangled forest. The forest seemed oblivious to the swordsman’s plight; woodland critters and forest sprites carried on their business as if he was not on the verge of death. The fight with Retane had left him mangled and wounded, but despite his injuries he had never felt more alive. The fact that he was bleeding meant that he could be defeated here in the Omniverse and the thought of his potential defeat made him grin with anticipation. The path through the trees became denser and harder to traverse, eventually his wounds got the better of him and forced him to lean against a tree for rest.

Still a nagging thought scratched at the back of his mind. Kuzuru had been able to take control so easily, his insanity had swallowed Renji whole and the swordsman was barely able to fight back. Several thousand years of practice had allowed him to ignore Kuzuru’s incessant vies for control, but here in the Omniverse it seemed that his willpower had waned. Carefully he gripped the red and black hilt of his sword to try and contact the demon. Instantly, like a crashing wave the insanity and blood lust of a demon of battle punished him.

Oh what a battle Renji! So much blood... So much carnage... Please fight again, I need another battle!

Why are you so powerful here Kuzuru?

Kill something and I’ll tell you! An animal, a person, or another green-skinned creature! It doesn’t matter I just want to feel more blood!

No demon, I’m in---

Before the swordsman could finish he felt his consciousness slipping. The demon was trying to subvert his control. For a long moment the two fought a battle of wills. After an eternity of struggle Renji was finally able to release his grip on the sword. He resolved to pry Kuzuru for answers later on, but in his current state of weakness he couldn’t contend with the demon. His wounds cried out in waves of agony and he found himself cold and weak from anemia. “How pathetic, to die from wounds after a victory” he mused, reaching into his shirt and retrieving his small black pipe. Renji smoked and watched the lively forest. Strange creatures scurried along the branches of trees and gentle whirligigs floated from above. It was a peaceful idyllic scene, one that Renji wouldn’t be opposed to bleeding out in such a serene place.

A cloud of gentle smoke had enveloped the bleeding warrior. He exhaled thick and heavy clouds of smoke, creating a light haze around him. His body felt refreshed from the pipe and even though his wounds were still severe, his smoking had calmed him. Slowly, using the tree for a brace he climbed shakily to his feet. There was not much to do but move forward, and move forward the swordsman did. Deeper into the twisted mass of trees and bramble the blademaster trudged forth. With every stepped he winced in pain and every breath was strained. Willpower could only carry the wounded fighter so far. Behind the trees Renji saw something miraculous, it was certainly destiny or fate that he would find his saving grace in the middle of the inhospitable forest.

A simple town, styled after the ancient 18th century villages that he had once lived in. He cared not for the time period, for that was when the true decline of great swordsman began. But he was glad to have found civilization, slowly and weakly he limped from the forest into the town. It didn’t take long for the strange denizens of this town hidden in the forest to take note of his arrival. Hushed whispers and worried sighs filled the air as the swordsman limped his way deeper into the town. His vision was blurred and his body felt heavy, he wanted to speak but found no words. The cumulative weight of his battle with Retane finally took its toll and force the swordsman to his knees. Shouting was heard, but it sounded mute and distant to the delirious warrior. He fell to his side and sprawled onto his back.

A team of medical assistants came rushing to Renji’s aid. They lifted the bleeding swordsman onto a stretcher and carted him off to the medical tent. It felt like a fever dream to the poor swordsman. His vision blurred and colors mixed together sounds were murky and muted and his body felt cold and clammy. They brought him to the medical tent, which was nothing much to look at but it was better than nothing. The resident nurse was an anthromorphic female rat standing at a menacing three feet tall.

“What happened?” worry filled her voice and she wasted no time in prepping an area for Renji.

“I don’t know, Matilda he just limped into town like this” one of the assistants responded, exasperated from having to carry him halfway across Ambrosia.

“Oh dear, what have you gotten yourself into?” the nurse asked Renji, she didn’t expect an answer, but the swordsman managed to groan weakly. She set to work quickly, removing portions of his clothing and stitching together wounds. It felt strange being tended to like this, due to Renji’s disposition he rarely found himself in the company of others. He felt a tug at his waist and realized that one of the nurse’s assistants were trying to remove his sword. A surge of fear and adrenalin pumped through the wounded swordsman and he lashed out, grabbing the assistant’s wrist. She was a younger lady and was one of the only human-looking assistants. Renji’s red eyes flared and met the terrified rabbit-lady “don’t touch it.”

Matilda scolded him and pushed him back down onto the table “don’t move or you’re going to lose what little blood you have left.” The last of his strength had left him and he found himself slowly slipping from consciousness. The nurse continued working for an hour, making sure every cut and gash was stitched back together and bandaged properly. Even though she was a skilled nurse there was only so much she could do. Renji had lost a startling amount of blood and had fallen unconscious in the middle of the procedure. Now all that was left was to wait and hope for his recovery.

[Guu]

Guu gave off a little smile as Molly was blown away by the gift. Sylvia had really outdone herself with this room. She must be a mind reader or a fortuneteller to know what Guu would have wanted long before she even thought it. However, there was business to attend to.

“Real quick, can I have your phone?” The pink enigma asked. Molly, confused, handed over her communication device.

The she tapped away at the device for a few minutes before handing it back.

“My phone number is on there now. I always have that thing on me. Sylvia is on there too, she’ll be living in the palace with us. That way, you can contact us anytime. Also, I have the number on there for this.”

She lifts up a strange phone with a heavy medal casing.

“It’s the phone I’ll be giving Gildarts when he comes along. He will be carrying a phone on him under my orders. Just don’t bother calling that number until he gets here.”

Molly nodded cheerfully.

“Thank you princess!”

“Anyways, there are a few things I need to take care of. You should get settled in. The whole palace is open to you, so just pull aside a Pokute when you need anything. I’ll check in on you in a bit.”


-----


With that, Guu made her way down the hall and down a flight of stairs. She could sense Molly’s presence so she wasn’t worried about leaving her alone. She entered a large ballroom type area, which had been designated as the “Throne room.” It even had a large elaborate chair that could technically classify as her throne.

She climbed her into it, barely even fitting it’s expanse. She clasped her hands together and focused her omnilirium, the ball of light shimmered as she pictured two new rooms to her mansion.


An hour passed and the ball eventually formed around the building. Her senses told her that the new rooms were in place. Making her way down the long twisted hallways, she found what is now the Recall Station room. She synced up her phone with the device and the gizmos whir into life. She knew she had to give this thing a test drive later on, but decided she wasn’t in the mood atm.

She moved to check on the other room. It was a giant gym, very similar in style to the one she visited in DA but a lot smaller in compact. She checked out the indoor pool plus hot tub. She looked forward to giving Desco more swimming lessons.

Unexpectedly, Sylvia walked into the room.

“I’m sorry to bother you like this, Princess. I wanted to tell you about the burnt down building, but I didn’t want to alarm our two new members.”

Guu had to process for a moment to remember. She had completely forgot about the building she sensed. She motioned to Sylvia to continue, but she had a good idea what had caused the damage.

“It was an orc attack. 10 of them. We were able to fend them off but we lost a building…”

“Did we lose any people?” Guu asked, concerned what the answer might be.

“Two…” She responded, solemnly.

An awkward silence broke out between the two. Eventually, Guu broke the ice.

“I’ll pay my respects to the dead later. And we’ll also have to figure out a way to cut down on the Orc attacks, raise our defenses and stuff.”

“Yes, your highness.”

“For now, it’s been a very long day. I really need to take a nap before I do anything further.”

“Yes, I doubt anyone would blame you. That DA thing looked like it sucked.”

“It did, it really did.”


-----


Guu made her way back into Molly’s room. She rapped on the door and came in with her approval. She found her typing away on her Dataverse device. She quickly put it away and gave the princess a big smile.

“Something you need Princess?”

“I’m going to take a nap. Do you want to join me?” Guu asked rather plainly.

“Oh!” Surprised by the sudden request. “Sure! Okay!”

Guu jumped into the bed next to her and immediately lay limp with her eyes half open.

“Umm… Princess?”

She could hear the gentle breathing sounds of a sleeping pink enigma.

“…she sleeps with her eyes open?”

[Guu]

Guu woke several hours later. She had woken to the visage of Molly who had conked out herself beside her. With a single motion, the pink princess covered up the little girl with a blanket and then made her way towards the hallway door. She could already sense Sylvia wondering about outside the palace. Climbing down several flights of stairs, she speed walked through the jungle sanctuary into town.

Sylvia was over seeing a platoon of teens. They were practicing their stances with a spear while another teen barked orders at them. Didn’t take long for the gothic second in command to notice the princess’ presence.

“Oh! Guu, you’re up! How was your nap?”

The teen that was formerly barking commands overhears the conversation and darts his attention towards the pink one. Spotting the higher ranks he yells out to his troops.

“Attention!” He called out to his troops, who quickly straighten up, holding their spears aloft with their left hand. “Salute!”

The whole platoon raise up their hands in respect to their leader. Guu, surprised at the sudden respect, straightens up herself in what must have been a twitch reaction.

“At ease!” Yelled out Guu, trying to disarm the situation. The platoon all gets into more relaxed positions. The commander steps forward. He has a redish-brown crew cut. He’s wearing camo pants and a wife beater. He couldn’t be more than 19-years-old.

“Commander Auburn Anderson I presume.” Guu said casually. “I apologize I didn’t meet you before DA.”

“Yes ma’am!” He called out.

She walks around him, sizing him up. However, the apparent humor of a 10-year-old acting this way to a trained soldier isn’t lost to her.

“You run a tight ship. Where were you trained?” She asked.

“I was originally trained as an AEE operative, Ma’am. I was assigned to protect Langweilig, but the place became Ambrosia before I could do anything.”

“AEE?” Guu inquired.

“Anti-Evil Enforcers.” Sylvia answered, stepping in. “They’re the military force of Berry Blitzkrieg.”

Guu had only recently heard of that city earlier on twitter. Got into a bit of a back and forth with the place’s leader. She’s still mostly in the dark, but she didn’t like what she heard.

“I’m proud to work for Ambrosia. This city is much more honorable.”

Guu, in a sign of odd respect, threw her hand up in salute, which Auburn quickly returned. Dropping her hand, she nodded at the man in reassurance.

“I’m sorry to sour the moment, but I hear some have fallen in combat.”

Auburn averted his gaze.

“It’s true. I’m sorry princess.”

“At ease soldier. I’m certain you did the best you could with the resources you had.” Guu said, Auburn turned to a more relaxed position. His look of guilt however, did not change. “I did not mention it to hold you accountable, I want to pay my respects.”

“I will take you to them.” He said. He turned to his platoon. “Go have breakfast.”


-----


Auburn led Guu and Sylvia out of town. On the edge of another forest was a small little cemetery. There was only about a dozen or so headstones. The princess guessed it was because the colony had only stood for so long before it was Ambrosia. They walked amongst the markers until they stopped in front of two graves in the first row.

Their names were Johnathan Herald and Hannah Garran. One was 16, the other was 15. She stepped up and gently touched one of the headstones, as if to comfort them. She felt immense shame. Despite dying to protect her city, she couldn’t recognize either name. She wished she had taken the time to get to know them a little better before they were taken.

“How’d it happen?” She asked.

“As I’m sure you’ve been briefed already, but there was an orc attack.” Auburn started, solemnly. “John was killed when they first ambushed. Hannah died in the fire. She saved several others in her sacrifice. They were brave. It was an honor they served under me.”

Guu stepped back to gaze on both stones.

“Did they have families?” She asked.

“No.” Sylvia responded. “They were both only children, and their parents went back to Berry Blitzkrieg”

Guu focused and the omnilirium floated out from her body. Minutes pass and eventually, two bouquets of flowers appear on the graves. She curtsies before the two headstones.

“Thank you, Johnathan and Hannah.” The princess began. “I’m sorry I couldn’t thank you in person. You’ve defended Ambrosia honorable, you deserved better than this.”

She looked almost ashamed at the senseless waste of life that had occurred here. Sylvia stepped up and rests a hand on her shoulder in comfort.

However, the emotional moment was quickly interrupted. A rat-person in a purple dress and pretty white fur, which they know as Nurse Matilda Waltz, is running up to them.

“Princess!” She yells, choking out the words. “The medical tent! Another prime is in Ambrosia!”


-----


Auburn returning to his duties, Sylvia and Guu are led to the medical tent by the rat.

“How do you know he’s a prime?” The princess asked.

“My healing magic only works on secondaries. No matter how much I try, his wounds wouldn’t heal by my touch. Despite that, he’s progressing faster than what a normal mortal person would. He must be healing himself with Omnilirium!”

Guu remembered her own wounds from DA. She had completely forgotten about the immense burns she had and missed how they completely recovered in her sleep earlier. She quickly looks over her body and sure enough, he skin was as perfect as the day she created it. She knew that primes healed faster than normal people, but she had never gotten used to the concept.

Eventually, they made it to the tent. Amongst the patients were a few teens being treated for minor injuries like bruises and cuts. They were led past them and to the back, where a man with a samurai sword lay.

[Kuzuru]

Time to wake up Renji

Kuzuru’s wicked voice echoed in his ear and he stirred to consciousness. His body felt like stone and a dull pain seeped into every fiber of his being. That damned green-skinned fiend had done a number on him. But the pain, the feeling of standing on the precipice of defeat, it made him feel alive. Every cut, every wound was proof that he was no longer an infallible swordsman and that thought filled him with joy. Finally warriors worth fighting, after an eternity of waiting Renji would finally be able to feel the challenge of true battle once again.

He kept his eyes shut and listened to the sounds of the medical tent. Several aids moved around tending to the wounded and injured, nothing much beyond a few scrapes and bruises. They spoke of the swordsman only in hushed voices, they did not know his intent nor how he came to be injured so. Talk of orc attacks and bandits piqued Renji’s interest, perhaps more battles awaited him on the horizon. Deciding to finally make his consciousness known Renji stirred and sat up in his cot. His body was sore and pained, but he was still able to move.

The rat-like nurse jumped at his sudden movement. She gently pressed against Renji and compelled him to lay back down.

“Oh dear, now don’t strain yourself you’ll rip the stitches. Lay down and rest now.”

“Where am I?” Renji asked weakly.

“Ambrosia, but that doesn’t matter now. Just rest and we’ll talk when you’re not on death’s door.”

Renji closed his eyes and scowled, for now he would heed her advice and rest. He thought back to his battle with Retane. Every flash of blood and steel was burned into his memory and he fixated onto every misstep and overreach. This line of thinking entertained him for a length of time. He would improve and his next battle with Retane would not be so close. His battle fantasies had kept him occupied long enough for wind of his arrival to reach the leader of Ambrosia. The small girl stepped into the tent and took note of the new arrival.

Ahh, only a mere child. But her eyes belie her innocence. Kill her Renji, I’m sure he blood will taste sweet.

The swordsman found himself instinctively clutching his sword. Renji frowned and released his grip on the demon sword and subsequently severed his link to Kuzuru. He leaned up, once again putting strain on his stitches and wounds. His red eyes took note of the princess and there was a moment of silence between the two. Renji couldn’t get a read on this strange girl. She looked human, for the most part, but it was that blank expression that he couldn’t get past. Renji furrowed his brows slightly and spoke “uhm... Hello. I’m Renji Kiyomasa”

The small princess spoke with a monotonous tone and blank stare “I am Princess Guu, welcome to Ambrosia.”

Renji furrowed his brow and tried his best to stifle a chuckle “you’re a princess?”

“Indeed”

The swordsman couldn’t tell if she was lying to him, but considering the other strange denizens of Ambrosia he figured she probably was telling the truth. The princess was a wall, Renji couldn’t read her intentions. Matilda, the rat nurse however seemed nervous and wary of the newcomer. He couldn’t blame her, after all he wasn’t the nicest person alive. Guu stared at Renji’s wounds and asked him in her signature monotone.

“What happened?”

A wicked smirk slipped across his face as he remembered his battle with Retane. Instinctively he gripped his sword and the demon inside was oddly quiet. With an almost sadistic tone he told Guu of his encounter with Retane. He recounted the battle in vivid detail, telling them every step and strike of the encounter. When all was said and done he grinned and said aloud.

“Truly a great duel, I can hardly remember the last time someone posed an actual challenge. I think I’ll enjoy my stay here in the Omniverse.”

“I see” the princess began to speak, but Renji cut her off.

“I heard you guys are having a bit of an orc problem, as a show of thanks for patching me up, I’ll take care of them for you.”

Matilda scolded Renji “now you are in no shape to go around picking more fights, you’ll stay in bed until you’re fixed up.”

This struck a nerve with the swordsman. He shot a sharp glare at the nurse, his red eyes flashed with aggression. She seemed slightly startled by his sudden switch in disposition, the princess however kept her blank expression. Every word was punctuated with sharp venom.

“I appreciate your hospitality, but who gives a shit about a couple of cuts? I don’t. I’ll go and fight if I want, because I don’t break.”

It was strange, Renji felt much more aggressive since his battle with Retane. Still he brushed it off as some sort of residual bloodlust from being under Kuzuru’s control for so long. The nurse went to speak, but was interrupted by the leader of Ambrosia. She seemed relieved at Renji’s “offer” but her tone of voice did not fluctuate from the simple monotone.

“Thank you Renji, I appreciate your offer. You might consider resting until they attack, I’ll brief you on the situation later.”

She turned to leave the tent, but stopped short of the exit.

“Oh... Is there anything you wish to eat? I’ll have someone bring you food.”

Renji’s stomach growled in response. The swordsman hasn’t eaten anything since his arrival in the Omniverse.

“Yeah, bring me meat or something. I’m starving, thank you.”

[Guu]

Guu noted his order. And then parted from the tent. She turned towards Sylvia.

“You head up to the palace. Make sure the Pokute’s are preparing dinner for Molly and you, and then do something nice for yourself. You've worked hard today.” She said with a pat on her shoulder.

“Will do Princess.” Sylvia responded obediently and headed towards the middle of town. Guu however, turned towards the edge of town.


-----


A short walk later and she was outside the entrance of the Loco Lobo. Making her way inside, the aroma of fresh meat being fried wafted gently in her nose. She could hear the sizzling sound of the frying pan not far away. Didn’t take her long to spot that familiar wolf back towards the kitchen, tossing scraps of meat into the air with a flick of the pan. Eventually, her attention turned to the Princess at the counter. Frantically, she ran up to her and curtsied respectfully.

“I apologize for not noticing you pr-”

“No need to apologize.” She said slowly waving an arm in the air, sounding a little bit aggravated at the over-politeness. “Any word from out guest?”

“He’s been asleep this entire time. I was hoping the smell of meat would wake him…”

Suddenly the anomaly stumbled out of the guestroom, his head spinning from getting up too fast.

“Woah.” He said, stumbling about. “Is that food I smell?”

“Almost ready! Let me finish up!” She yelled, getting back to her frying pan.

Carn climbed into one of the bar stools next to Guu. His head hanging in drowsiness, he tilts his head to the pink princess.

“How long was I out?” He asked casually.

“Four hours” Guu answered.

Suddenly, a plate of stir-fry composed of mostly of strips of chicken, beef, and pork was shoved in front of him. Without a moment’s hesitation, he started chomping down, almost ravenously. Guu watched him patiently. She wasn’t going to converse with him while he’s eating like this. As soon as he was done, she finally spoke up.

“Did you enjoy that?” The pink enigma asked. He nodded happily.

“Yep! It was great! Wish it had fish, though!”

Guu cocked her head at him.

“You prefer fish?”

“Yep! Fish are my favorite!” He yelled out with glee.

With that, Guu whipped out her cellphone and tapped out a text for Sylvia. It read: “Carn will be joining us, have the Pokutes prepare for him too. We’re having fish.” She turned her attention towards Cynthia.

“Send the rest of the food you’re preparing to the Medical tent, a prime named Renji will be taking the order.” Guu ordered.

“Yes ma’am!” She said, straightening in reaction to a royal order.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be finishing your meal in the palace. We’re serving fish.”

The thought gave Carn a mile wide sharp-toothed grin. Guu continued.

“Since I doubt you got the message, I will tell you now. Ambrosia will fully support your mission. You and your kind are welcome here as long as they behave themselves.”

The anomaly was overjoyed by this statement. The grin, once thought to be unable to go further, stretches into a further menacing curvatures.

“Thank you Guu!” He moved in and gave her a big ol’ hug. She let him, getting used to the intimate contact her new life often entails. Cynthia, however, looked on shocked that someone would actually outright hug royalty like that. Eventually he pulled away. “You’re the best Guu!”

“Yeah yeah.” She said sounding irritated, trying to hide her red cheeks. “Anyways, we should head towards the palace.”


-----


That night, Guu, Carn, Sylvia, and Molly ate fresh salmon. It was caught just earlier that day in a river a half a mile away. The animals of the village take their fishing seriously. The pokute turn out to be halfway decent cooks considering their stature. Not as good as the folks down at the Sty and Fry but up there. After dinner, the four went up to the arcade and played games for while. After Carn hit the sack early, the three went on to play board games, watched movies, and have fun. Admittedly, it was to give Molly the genuine family experience. It was Guu’s idea… mostly.


As soon as it turned dark, Molly was ushered into bed.

]“Awww, I don’t want to sleep! I’m having too much fun!” Complained Molly, trying to stifle a tired yawn. Sylvia moved in and tucked her in.

“I know, but it’s time for you to sleep, now.” She said to the little girl. She leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, feeling silly considering she was kind of young to play mother. This was enough to satisfy the young one as she smiled and drifted off into slumberland. “Good night.”

With Molly in bed, everyone made their way into their own bedrooms and settled in for the night. Quiet fell over the palace as the night air was filled with the sounds of crickets and the distant calls of birds.


-----


Sometime, around 7 am the next morning, a bell rang that woke up everyone in the town. Guu and Sylvia were the first ones at the palace entrance. They were greeted by a brown haired teen rushing up to them, huffing out of breath.

“What’s going on?” Guu asked.

“Orc attack! Twelve of them!”

Before the words had even been spoken, she had already barely sensed the platoon of orcs at the edge of her senses.

“Sylvia, keep Molly safe until the coast is clear.” She barked at the gothic second in command. Guu dashed off in the direction of the attack.

[Carn_Val]

Well, last night's feast was pretty satisfying for an anomaly like me. The food was, although not in ideal volume, enough to amuse me for a while. I had to learn how to regulate myself though since I wasn't the only one eating in the palace. Speaking of the palace, the place was full of weird-shaped people. Poku-something, I didn't really listen in on what Guu called them, I'm just sure they're not like me despite our similarities.

____

It was a bit hectic once I woke up, people were running around like something happened. Their faces wasn't one of panic, rather, they held the face of urgency. I ask one of the adolescent humans what was going on and she simply replied "Orcs" before resuming her business. I think she was heading to the kitchen. I wasn't hungry yet so I pondered on her words, well, word. "Orcs? Hmm...now what's that?" I mumble to myself how to answer that question, though it sounded like food and the teenage girl was rushing towards the kitchen so maybe it's another food? Another feast? Meal? Breakfast? An early morning party?? My stomach started humming in excitement, happily wanting to take a bite of this 'Orc' thing, curse this high energy consumption body of mine.

As I wandered outside, I was greeted by the swaying of trees. If I remembered correctly, I was lead to this palace in the middle of the forest. I didn't really catch on the plantation since it was getting darker after Guu visited me from my nap. Enjoying my leisurely stroll below the cool canopy, teenagers kept running towards my general direction, screaming "Orc attack!" as they looked at me. How enthusiastic of them for this party. Soon, teenagers with leather armor and spears went ahead of me, their destination is probably the Ambrosia entrance. "Hmm...is this how they usually greet people? It certainly wasn't as flashy when their princess Guu arrived."

Near the entrance, I spot the pink-haired princess, helping the people gather in groups and, from what I heard from one of them, evacuate while the spear-wielding kids went ahead of her too. She looks at me and somehow I was already walking towards her. "My, busy eh?"

"This is an emergency, Carn. Please go to the gate, I'll catch up in a minute."

"Ok, princess." Wondering what 'emergency' means, I trail off towards the entrance. Might be some kind of gathering?

Expecting some kind of grand feast, a festival of sort, I dissapointed myself once I saw the ugly looking creature they were lobbing spears at. "So...we're supposed to eat that? Kill it first? I don't get it." Confused, I found myself charging at one of the beasts, impaling its skull with my quarter-ton cleaver. The beast struggled to pull Tremor, the cleaver, off its forehead, apparently I missed its brain, or it didn't have one. As the cleaver slowly slid off the now opened wound, I charge Trauma for a super-accelerated strike. Oddly colored body fluids gushed out of the Orc's forehead like a broken faucet as the cleaver was being pulled out. Just as Tremor was freed from its forced entry, I struck it with my high-speed scythe Trauma, pushing the cleaver deeper into the cut. Letting off a dying scream to alert its companions, the Orc slowly dropped on its knees. Dead, it fell to the ground with an effortless thud, on top of it was no other than yours truly, still trying to understand the situation.

Looking around, these bright white eyes see nothing but disorder, not one of the festive type as seen from one of the teens' terrified eyes as the Orc unarmed and cornered them. From then on, I realize that this was a battle, one between hulking bulks of flesh against a bunch of soft, squishy people. People I might become neighbors in the near future. I knew then on that I had to take care of them. Odd, I never felt this before. I guess I am changing into something again.

Rushing towards the beast, I block its swinging hand with Tremor, shock reverberating on impact. I signal the cornered teens to run away from the gate as I hold off its attacks. They obediently acknowledge my order, despite being a complete stranger to them. "Oddballs."

Once I figured they already had enough time to run off to safety, I start my anomaly traits and vibrate Tremor, sending shockwaves that caused the Orc to flinch. Given the chance, I run off to the opposite direction, hoping to lure the beast away from Ambrosia.

[Gildarts]

Frivolous typing and clacking sounds filled the halls of the mansion. After a long pause, Molly's narrowed eyes were pulled from the screen by a sigh. "Ugh. I can't even find him by hacking the cameras... He must be out of sight, or in a verse that doesn't have a lot of technology. "Pale Moors, Vastly.. But I would have seen him on the entrance cams, that leaves just the Ashen Steps and Camelot."

On her monitor, a beautifully displayed virtual map colored the reflection of her eyes. "Humph. You idiot Gildarts. You better not have been banished."

An epic orc battle was about to ensue, an invasion of mass destruction, and Molly was clacking keys. She hadn't eaten in hours, but her worry staved off the hunger and her mind didn't wander from the task at hand.

Click click..

"Hmmm... What's this?" Something sparked the girl's interest on the Omniverse News Network. Usually she got her information from more reliable and less biased sources, but there was something mentioned about Camelot, and well, Molly had an inkling of curiously.

The link was tapped and a burst of color flared on the screen. A scene of an ancient stadium zoomed in from an arial view before swooping in on a massive battle scene. The scope of the gore spread in every direction as the camera panned across the battlefield spilt with blood and filled with gladiators.

"...Primes from Dante's Abyss have been reported to be participating in this tournament..." The female newscaster said in a charming voice that had a low, inclining tone.

Molly clicked to zoom-in and froze the frame over the woman's shoulder, the pixels revealed color splotches of red hair and a black cloak, laying motionless on the ground. The little girl gasped and threw a concerned hand up to her mouth, "It can't be!" Still motionless he lay as though in an eternal slumber. She was sure it was Gildarts due to the sticking out silver gleam she glimpses at from the parting of his cloak, but she didn't want to believe the Prime was dead.

Didn't Prime's resemble Omnilium when they died? Or revive in the Nexus? What was taking him so long? Molly's eyes glued to the screen, hot from tireless use and warm light beneath the glass. "Come on.. Come on..." Molly waited an hour and watched the worst advertisements imaginable and still there was no motion. She minimized the window on her computer by a simple press of her white mouse and knelt her body into a crumpled ball. The girl felt pain grieve in her heart.

Was she to tell the Princess? Guu would want to know, and yet... The doubt traced in Molly's mind, etching lines of painful memory in every vacant tomb. No, she couldn't tell Guu, not with the orcs, and not when the girl couldn't be sure. She could only wait. This, was slow agony, and tantalizing torture.

The young girl sat in her pink room, hovering with her knees together in her arms on that one desk chair. In her hand, a phone, as she clicked to check her inbox that read: "No new messages."

Molly could only stay inside and ensure she wouldn't be a liability, but Sylvia who had run to the restroom had left a good opening for Molly to escape. The thought tempted the girl, but her heart wasn't into being mischievous with all this strife going around. The best she could do was support from the sidelines, that's what being a secondary meant here. That's what being powerless meant here. Perhaps that was why she had been so drawn to Gildarts, a man who simply at the touch of something, could cause a town to crumble to the ground. He created oblivion. So why couldn't she?

[Kuzuru]

Renji spent the night resting in the medical tent. Guu followed through on her promise and he was brought a decent meal of meat. The Swordsman ate the food eagerly, filling his stomach with sustenance. The other creatures of Ambrosia kept a weary eye on the swordsman. His red eyes and aggressive outbursts kept them estranged, and he preferred it this way. Kuzuru was oddly silent, his once ever-present blood lust was almost nonexistent and Renji found a simple peace from this silence. He stayed silent and listened to the hushed whispers and rumors. The young denizens spoke with loose lips and he gleaned hefty sum of knowledge from the chatterboxes.

Matilda was the only one that would approach him. She refreshed his dressing every few hours. He tried to leave, but the rat-lady urged him to rest lest he tear open his wounds. So the swordsman was left to contemplate his existence. He reflected on the kindness of these strangers, despite his fearsome visage and aggressive tendencies they still cared for his wounds. It was strange, he thought, strange that these people were so accepting of him. Renji finished his food and fell asleep shortly afterwards. The wounds had taken a vicious toll on his strength and despite his best efforts he knew he had to rest.

His sleep was heavy and refreshing. During his slumber he did not visit the prison of souls within his blade, deciding that it was best for him to avoid that place for the time being. The morning was a soft gentle morning, the grass was covered with a crisp dew and the air was light and pleasant. For the most part his wounds had healed, and he was feeling invigorated. The nurse was no longer around and in her stead were several assistants. This was his chance to stand without being berated and stand he did. He stretched his stiff muscles and smiled at the beautiful day. The largest wound, a gash cut through the meat of his left shoulder, pulsed in pain.

The swordsman stepped from the medical tent and shielded his red eyes from the sun. The sun felt warm against his flesh and discarded the idea of wearing a shirt on this fine day. For the first time in years the swordsman felt that he had purpose, that he had something to look forward to. He would fight for Ambrosia until there was no more conflict to be had. It was the least he could do, after all they did save him from the cold grip of death.

“Orc attack!” a frantic teen rushed past Renji, repeating the alarming phrase. With two simple words chaos had found itself in Ambrosia. A sly grin peeked across Renji’s mouth a chance for another battle was on the horizon. Instinctively he found himself jogging towards the source of the chaos, he ran against the grain of fleeing civilians. His metal-plated sandels left unique imprints in the soft earth, every moment was savored as he could hear the clashing of metal-on-metal.

Twelve or so of the brutish green-skinned combatants lumbered through the town. They lacked refinement, their weapons were crude and their fighting style even moreso. He felt disgusted watching them attack the poor civilians, their massive frames forced them to take slow sweeping strikes and Renji felt they were moving in slow motion. Before the swordsman could act he watched an old ally rush into the battle. Carn, the anomoly charged into the fray saving several civilians from one of the green-skinned creatures. Renji watched in amazement as Carn made short work of the vile creature.

The swordsman stepping forward and made his presence known “it seems our fates have become intertwined once more anomaly.”

“Oh! Its you Mr. Swordsman, strange how you seem to pop up in unexpected places.”

Renji smirked “as much as I love these simple pleasantries, I think our guests need some lessons in swordplay and I’m in a teaching mood.” He pointed his sword at the brutish creatures, momentarily stopping their assault. A wicked grin crawled across Renji’s face and his red eyes flashed with malicious intent. They did not pause for long and the group unleashed an earth-shaking warcry. Half of the pack split off to fight the anomaly while the other six charged Renji. He took a step back and braced himself for the inevitable stampede. At the last moment Renji leaped high into the air, vaulting over the pack of slow-wits. They roared in frustration and charged again, following the fleeing swordsman.

Renji was no fool, he knew fighting six warriors no mattered how unskilled was a fool’s fight. He had to take this slow and methodically pick apart the cluster of fighters. Without warning he turned to face the ferocious pack of orcs. With a flash of steel he parried one attack, while dodgin another. Renji moved like water, snaking in between blows and deflecting the ones he couldn’t avoid. The unskilled orcs couldn’t keep up with the seasoned immortal, an enternity of conflict had honed his skills and their attacks were all too predictable.

Or so he thought.

A wild swing caught Renji by surprise. A large club made froma gnarled tree branch crashed into Renji’s bare chest. He was sent tumbling to the ground. Using his momentum he barely managed to tumbled back to his feet. Another downwards swing forced Renji to scramble backwards, they had him on the backfoot and he did not like it. With a practiced maneuver he ducked under the third strike and brought his blade upwards, slicing a vicious gash across the orc’s chest. Blood covered Renji and Kuzuru flared to life, clawing at the back of his mind.

Another battle Renji? So much blood, what a service you’re providing for me! Slay them all!

Gladly.

He slashed outwards again, severing an orcs arm and forcing the survivors back. Renji let out a wicked laugh and felt the blood on his blade. “You dimwits are so painfully slow! Come on, move faster you worthless excuses for warriors!” The remaining orcs eyed Renji warily, they charged him again and he sidestepped their reckless advance.

“So slow!” he taunted, enraging the already furious orcs “just stop fighting and bleed for me!”

[Guu]

Guu was quite impressed already.

Even though she was quite a distance from the fight, overseeing some of the evacuation, she could sense the entire scene. The two were very ruthless, but they fight quite well; especially that Renji guy. However, with the last of her noncombatant subjects off to safety, it was time she joined the battle herself.


Guu jumped into the scene and abruptly transformed into her adult form, surprising Carn and several of the orcs. She immediately grabbed one of the orcs by the legs and spun around in circles on the spot. Knocking a few other orcs on their asses in the process, she launched him into the air where he bounced across the ground like a rock to a pond. Then she walked up to one of the prone orcs and started wailing on him repeatedly against his chest. The others try to get back onto their feet, but another one gets cleaved in half with Carn’s blade.

Renji was ducking and weaving between blows, slicing into orcs left and right. Most of the pack was focusing on him, but none of them could even get a single hit. One of the orcs lost a head, another lost a leg.

Suddenly, a shot rang out in the distance, and one of the orcs fell dead on the ground. Guu immediately detected a mysterious sniper on the edge of her senses. Couldn’t get any details on whoever it was. Another shot rang out and another orc plopped lifelessly on the dirt.

The remaining five orcs, now noticing that they could not win flee for the exit of town.

“Get back here you cowards!” Yelled the blood thirsty Renji. He charged after them, blood stained blade firmly in hand. However, this was the moment where Guu noticed that the orcs were running into the haunted forest.

“Wait!” Guu called out, but she failed to gain his attention. She watched as he ran into the woods after them.

By now people have started flooding into the streets again, some were helping with the orc bodies, some where tending to the wounded and helping them to the medical tent. Guu searched through her senses, going through each citizen. Eventually, she felt the presence of a familiar strange bean shaped pokemon. Shifting back into a child form, she moved in the direction of the creature.

“Togetic! I need you!”

The floating Pokemon, barely hearing her words, appeared before her. Upon seeing him, the princess reached up to her head and yanked out a few strands of hair. She hands it over and places it in his tiny stubby arm, giving her a confused reaction in response.

“I want you to fly over the forest and try to find the Swordsman. Make sure he gets back alive.”

Togetics nods in response to her request and flies off over the woods. She watched him, wondering if the skills of “Renji” guy would be worth the trouble he may cause them.

Shaking the thought away, she decided to get back down to business. She extended an arm out into the nearby bushes. A horrified scream is heard. As her arm retracted, it is revealed that she was grasping down on the leg of a tiny little goblin. He was dressed in dirty ragged clothes. He kicks and yells as the princess drags him closer.

As soon as he was five feet from her, she picked him up by the scruff of his neck and lifted him up so she was face to face with him. He quivers in fear with those eyes pressing down on him.

“I sensed you with them. You ducked out as soon as Carn jumped into the fight. Not much of a soldier are you?”

The goblin, shivering in terror, shook his head.

“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. I want you to go back to your masters. Tell them what you saw today. And tell them that Ambrosia is protected!”

With that, she tossed him onto the road. He scrambles onto his feet and runs out of town and out of sight.

With that out of the way, she turned her attention to the anomaly who was wiping the blood off his blade.

“Thank you Carn. Glad you’re on our side.” She said, as pleasantly as she could muster, hoping she didn’t come off as sarcastic. “Why don’t you explore the town a bit, you’ll be living around here for a while so you might as well.”

She checked her senses again. Her mystery sniper was already on the move. She decided he must not be a threat to Ambrosia if he’s only shooting at the city’s enemies. Probably one of Auburn’s platoon. She’ll thank him later, but for now, there was a possibly frightened little girl she needed to tend to.

“If anyone needs me, I’ll be at my place.” Guu said, making her way to the Palace.

[Gildarts]

Molly sipped her cup of infamous Black Life and had turned to Sylvia who had reentered the room feeling refreshed. After feeling freshly spritzed and having notably fluffier hair, Molly brought the woman's attention to the screen and played back the footage from earlier.

"Yep. That's definitely him." Sylvia confirmed and became Molly's soul witness. Little did Molly know it would be hard for Sylvia to forget such a notably scruffy face. Sylvia turned to Molly, reading the skepticism on the girl's youthful but despairing face. "He's not dead." Sylvia reassured her.

"How do you know?"

"It'll take a lot more than gladiators to kill that oaf." The woman offered her unwavering faith to Molly, whose eyes began to glow with the light of hope.

"So what are you going to do, kid? Will you go to see him? That news website has the coordinates..." Sylvia offered, but they both knew this was a bad idea and not just because of the orcs outside.

Molly shook her head as her eyes dimmed, "By the time I got there, what with the portals in the Nexus, he could already be gone." It was rare for Molly to display her fear, but she opened up to Sylvia, unafraid of the consequence, and responding well to the welcoming intimacy that was a "one-on-one" conversation. "Not to mention, Gildarts wouldn't want me there, I think he's afraid he will break something, or that a building will fall on me. I can support him from the sidelines.... Besides..."

Molly parted the cotton-candy pink curtains and veered out to the city street. She saw the massive horde of destruction, the green creatures trampling her beloved town. Gildarts you dummy. How could you let this happen... Though in retrospect, it's probably better you aren't here. You'd destroy the whole town of Ambrosia trying to "save" it. The girl smiled at the bitter sweet truth.

The girl in the magenta skirt jammies was about to ask Sylvia about how Guu was doing, but a rapid knock on the door interrupted her train of thought. Speak of the princess, there she was.

"Molly, are you okay?" The princess nobly asked.

"I'm okay Princess, how have you been fairing? Is it really bad? Are we safe?"

"I assure you, we have some friends battling against the orcs, though I was hoping for diplomacy, I'm glad you're okay Molly, not sure what Gildarts would say if you were captured under my care."

Molly nodded, before something urgent was brought up, the vague mention of an encrypted message. And soon, it would all begin.

[Guu]

“Alright message sent.”

“Encrypted as well?”

“Yep!”

Guu was huddled next to Molly who was finishing typing on Guu’s dataverse device.

“I’m guessing they were using ‘Minnie Mouse’ and ‘Mickey Mouse’ as code names.” Molly Continued. “Funny, I remember that name at DA, her husband must use the name a lot.”

The princess knew for the fact that Molly was going to flip her lid when they both arrive. She vowed to be in the same room when that happened.

She took back her device that she stomached immediately, not prompting any questions from the little girl beside her who was probably already too indoctrinated into this place to care. The two were called down for breakfast.

The Pokutes prepared a spread muffins and bacon. Sylvia was already eating, wearing a black t-shirt with some metal band logo emblazoned over it. Guu recognized it as her sleeping attire. Molly quickly jumped in the chair beside her and dug right in.

The pink enigma just sat down beside her. She used to join in with the eating back when she lived with Hare, but now anything she actually ate (as in “ate” ate) would go into a separate stomach that actually digested it and turned it into that horrific brown slimy blob log that she didn’t really want to experience again. So yeah, eating was not preferable.

After Molly and Sylvia were all full up, the dining room was quickly disturbed by another frantic teen.

“Your highness!”

“Don’t tell me another orc attack.” Guu said, rolling her eyes.

“Uh-no! It’s ambassadors from the Horsemen!”

“Horsemen? Like Centaurs?”

“They are a faction in the Tangled.” Sylvia butted in. “Ambrosia hasn’t encountered them yet. They’re lead by some green guy… Retane I believe.”

Guu’s mind suddenly flashed back to Coruscant. It was the candy shop after Desco had eaten herself into a temporary coma. The news reported on the person she was talking about. She knew she was going to come across his group eventually, but she didn’t think it would be so soon after DA.

“Did they say exactly what they were here for?”

“No, they said they would only speak their business in the presence of the Princess.” The messenger continued. “But they made it clear they were here peacefully. They even checked their weapons to prove it so.”

Guu rubbed her chin as she thought about the best course of action. She doubted the boy had pat the group down for any hidden weapons, so it’s possible that this was all a ruse for an assassination. She usually wouldn’t care if it was, but worries for the safety of Molly and Sylvia. But at the same time, what reason would people have to assassinate her? The crops around Ambrosia were more valuable that she was at that moment. Killing her would gain them nothing but warfare. In the end, she decided to take these Ambassadors in good faith… with the presences of Auburn and his troops of course.

“Tell them that we require some time to prepare, and that we’ll have guards present for everyone’s safety.”

Might as well be transparent as possible.


-----


Auburn and his platoon were dressed up in uniforms and stood at attention in lines along the walls that lead to the throne. Standing in the middle of the room were Guu, Sylvia, and Molly all dressed up in a freshly summoned princess gowns. Molly had a mile wide smile across her face as she looked at her beautiful new light purple dress with awe. Sylvia, in a black dress, looked incredibly uncomfortable in her formal clothing. Guu was just kind of standing there in her pink dress, waiting patiently for the guests to be let in.

Finally, the doors swung open, revealing a team of people in black robes; their faces hidden by hoods. The princess started to wonder if she should have suspected an assassination after all. She looked over towards the guards and sure enough, they were thinking the same thing, looking a bit nervous by the ambassadors’ appearances. Throwing caution to the wind, she did a small hand gesture to the guards to signal to them to relax, and just hoped to Omni that she was right about this.

But as the group approached, she felt something odd. Her senses couldn’t pick up the ninja, she assumed it was because they all had suppression, however she could feel a tiny little heartbeat, like something she’d sense from an infant. Did they have a baby on them?

The group halted twenty feet from the Princess. They all bow down to her, which she politely responds with a curtsy. They stand again as she began to talk

“I welcome you all to Ambrosia. And I’m glad to finally meet someone from the Horsemen.” She spoke loud and clear. “What brings you to my neck of the woods?”

Who Guu guessed was the leader stepped forward. She wore a cloak and had a hood over her head.

“I apologize for our appearance, we don’t intend to stay long.” The leader began. “We came here to deliver a gift.”

“A gift?” Guu asked intrigued, but the cloaked woman continued.

“Our master Retane wishes to grant you specifically the most precious of gifts in the name of peace between our two factions.”

She signaled to one of the other cloaked figures. She stepped out in front of the group and closer to Guu, carrying a satchel with her. Placing some padding on the floor, she reached into the satchel, and placed on the pad what the princess could recognize as an egg. The cloaked woman moved back into her place in the ranks, never breaking eye contact with the egg.

“Inside the egg is master Retane’s only daughter. He has named her Naturae.” Spoke up the leader again. “He requests that you should raise her. He somehow already knows she is bound to be a gentle soul, so she wants someone to raise her in an environment of kindness.”

Sylvia had her jaw dropped. Molly had her hand over her mouth. The guards all weren’t sure what to make of the offer. However Guu just calmly stepped forward. With the egg out in the open, her senses were fully functioning on it. As she moved in close and got on her knees to look at it’s lime green surface much more closely, she could feel every detail of the life growing inside. As a being who’s spent a long time studying mortals, she was fascinating to her, and yet, so beautiful.

Before the princess knew it, she picked up the egg and nuzzled it lightly. She could feel the life inside move, not sure if reacting to the action of being picked up or from the contact with her face.

She pulled the egg away from her muzzle and caressed it carefully in her arms. She stood up and regained eye contact with the leader of the pack.

“My home is Naturae’s home.”

With all the group had seen, they were quite satisfied. They gave one more bow and walked out the way the came; disapearing into the long corridors of the castle.
Sylvia and Molly approached Guu.

“Wow, that’s… that’s a real egg?” Sylvia asked. The princess nodded in return.

“This is amazing! He gave you his daughter?” Molly exclaimed excitedly.

“Well, we have plenty of rooms around here. Might as well fill the place up.” Sylvia said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “I’ll go with whatever you want Guu, as always. I’ll just be glad to get out of this damn dress.”

“Oh, don’t get out of the dress quite yet. We have more guests on the way.” The princess said. She quickly walked out of the throne room to find somewhere private.

“Wait, for real?” She could barely hear the gothic second in command say in response.


-----


Guu made it to her bedroom and perched herself on her large mattress with the egg. In one solid motion, she shoved the egg into her mouth and down her throat.

With the egg in her stomach, she could feel it floating safely in the abyss. Safe from the elements, safe from gravity, safe from anything that could even remotely harm it. She lay down on the bed, adjusted the temp of her stomach so it’s comfortable for the egg, and just contently listened to its small little heartbeat.

“Welcome to Ambrosia.” She said, her hand on her belly.

[Mickey Mouse]

Minnie Mouse sighed. Alone once more.

Minutes after their arrival in the Tangled Green, it happened again. Her husband always had a penchant for noble exploration; Mickey, like, thought it was his job to investigate any situation that looked even the slightest bit sour. The lady mouse supposed he had a bit of a hero complex. This simultaneously annoyed her and made her fall even more deeply in love with him every time he ran off to solve someone else’s issues.

Right now, though, she felt more irritation than anything. Their reunion had been so sweet—together at last, after a too-long separation—and he still had run off at the first sight of someone in trouble. The remnants of a mysterious looking forest fire had been too much for him to resist, she supposed, and so now she made the walk to Ambrosia all by lonesome.

It wasn’t that she was worried about him; no, far from it. She knew that Mickey could handle himself, despite the fact that they surely had Empire hunters on their tails by now. He had grown stronger during his time in the Omniverse than he ever had been back home, she could feel it, and so she knew that whatever adversaries made their way into his path, he would be able to take them. No, this annoyance stemmed from pure selfishness; she wanted to see him, goshdarnit, and he’d run away.

Luckily, by the time he had darted off with Simba, the walk to Ambrosia was almost done anyway. Minnie walked for maybe fifteen minutes before the cute little town appeared on the horizon.

The picturesque Ambrosia fit nicely with the beauty of the Tangled Green. All around the city, a great forest bordered it, filled with trees that were greener than any other shade of green Minnie had ever seen. Well, at least she’d have pretty things to look at during her stay here.

Just outside the town, a few strange-looking beings were on clean-up crew. From the looks of it, an attack of some sort—orcs, Minnie guessed—had just occurred. The thought sent chills up her spine… she had no desire to be in the center of a war with the orc tribes of the Tangled Green, which she’d heard were more vicious than Camelot’s, but she possessed little choice.

A little while later, her journey was over as she passed, finally, into the city limits of Ambrosia. The town ruled by this ‘Princess Guu’ struck her immediately with its inherent beauty—its buildings looked rather sophisticated in architecture, something Minnie admired. And they were pretty cute, to boot.

The people shuffled around her, occasionally sparing a glance for the Queen. Her long, red dress flowed magnificently behind her as she walked through the town, hopefully signifying her affluence and importance. For good measure, the lady mouse reached up and adjusted her tiara, making sure it sat in the proper location to catch the sun’s rays. The sparkle would get someone’s attention, hopefully.

She wandered around the little town for a while without as much as an idle glance. The people shuffled around her, weighed down, it seemed, by other problems. Minnie decided to head toward the center of town—if this Princess Guu could be found anywhere, the lady mouse supposed that would be it. Surely at least one of her high-ranking officers would be around.

Besides, around that area, the Queen could see a palace rising higher than the rest of the buildings. Perhaps that was where Princess Guu made her home?

Her journey was quickly interrupted, though, when she turned a corner and saw a group of black-cloaked figures filing quickly through the streets of Ambrosia.

Oh no, the lady mouse thought, remembering the similar-looking cloaks of the Organization XIII members who had held her captive. Very quickly, she slipped back around the corner from whence she’d come and ducked into a space between two buildings, hiding as the intimidating-looking hooded people marched past her. She could not tell if the woman at the front of the pack had spotted her; if she had, she had paid no mind to the Queen, for the whole group of mysterious individuals continued their trek out of the city.

Strange, Minnie shrugged, peeking around the side of one of the buildings and watching as the group headed toward the surrounding forest. She was safe, for now.

“Uhm, excuse me miss?”

Minnie straightened up with a start. One of the strange little creatures had finally noticed her, right when she had been trying not to be noticed. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her ruby-red dress. “…yes?”

“Uhm,” the little thing stammered nervously, “…why are you hiding back there?”

“Beside the point,” Minnie muttered. She cleared her throat, stepping out into the street. Her back straightened, she put on her best, most queenly voice and declared:

“My name is Minnie Mouse. I have been invited here by Princess Guu and would like to be taken to her immediately.”

[Roger Smith]

"NAK."

"Yeah okay you sure called it, Tolkien. They sure were orcs."

"NAK."

"I can still find something to fee you to, y'know."

"NAK."

"Hey. That was definitely not a lucky shot. I know exactly how to use this damn rifle okay. I made the damn thing, y'know."

It had been the same sort of back and forth ever since Adam had emerged from the denser mass of trees to catch sight of the village or town or something. His small crocodilian companion, still perched resolutely and rather annoyingly on his shoulder, had promptly told him to hit the dirt. He had done so, and over the course of the next several minutes, had taken his time to survey the scene via the scope of his crutch-concealed rifle. He had had a most aggressive disagreement with his small red NAK'ing companion, which ended up with Adam being coerced -- rather easily -- to lend some fire support to the situation.

One shot. Hiss of laser fire. One large, brutish green form with a sizzling wound in the side of its head slumping to the ground.

Second shot. Second hiss of laser fire. Another equally large green form, a freshly-burned wound in the back of its head, slumping down to the ground in death.

In short order the remainder of the hulking green beasts, which Nakworth had insisted were orcs, were fleeing, apparently getting it through their heads they were more than a little outmatched.

A short time and much floating along later, and Adam was much nearer the settlement, and able to more clearly see the green beasties he had helped put down and chase off. And he had to grudgingly acknowledge that Nakworth had been correct. He shouldn't have been surprised in the slightest, given what he had seen so far in this place, but it still bothered him to have something like orcs apparently being real so casually shoved in his face, so shortly after running into Star Wars: the world.

Dismissing his disgruntlement for now, Adam floated on into town, and taking a short look around. It seemed....somehow fitting with the area, though after about a minute Adam's finely-developed senses and situational awareness, and not at all just a random observation he happened to make, made him aware of something rather odd about the town, in that there seemed to be no one around that could be called a real adult. Or....well, no one that appeared to be human, at any rate. The place was full of a rather odd mix of folks.

"NAK."

Finally dismounting from his perch, Nakworth scampered off, quickly leaving Adam behind and vanishing around the corner of a building. "Oh for the love of...." Once more, Adam's open palm met his face in a faint smack. "If that little reptile gets me in trouble around here I swear...." He trailed off into indistinct grumbling of threats and punishments he wouldn't actually follow through on in any way, shape or form.

Then he turned his attention to the current rush of activity in the town. Namely, the cleaning up of the aftermath of the orc attack. Even thinking the phrase "orc attack" made Adam ever so slightly roll his eyes, reminding himself this was not some strange game or book, but what was actually going on before his eyes. There were wounded to tend to, damages to repair....not to mention taking care of the bodies. Adam shuddered at that thought. He'd dealt with his fair share of bodies -- lugging them around, depositing at least one on his quest bed, and generally disposing of far more than he had any right to be in the vicinity of.

But he didn't enjoy it one bit.

And as much as he might have wanted to offer his help in cleaning up the mess, just to get it over and done with as expediently as possible, his stomach and sense of better judgement revolted in near unison, forcing him to turn away and merely head off at random to poke about the town. It was more preferable than returning to aimless jungle wandering, at the very least, and maybe -- juuuuuust maybe -- he would possibly find something that was of actual interest.

It was worth a shot.

[Guu]

“No need for that.”

The boy and Minnie looked over and saw Princess Guu, still in her princess gown, standing a few feet away. The boy immediately knelt on a knee.

“You’re majesty!”

“Rise, no need to be so former to me, Charles.”

She turned to Minnie Mouse and curtsied respectfully.

“Welcome to Ambrosia, Queen Minnie Mouse.”

Upon hearing that he was in the presence of more royalty, he knelt down again, this time to Minnie. Guu chuckled a bit.

“Never the observant type, huh Charles.”

“Sorry if I must pry,” started Minnie, “But how did you know I was here?”

Guu turned to the mouse. She was quiet, as if she was not used to hearing that question being asked. After a while, a light bulb went off in her head.

“Enhanced Senses.” She responded. “I can feel the presence of anyone within a half a mile from me. Not to mention, you’re kind of recognizable.”

Suddenly, Sylvia came running up, still in her black gown, breathing heavily in exhaustion.

“Huff, Guu! Huffff, I’m not as fast as you, don’t go huff running off like that.” She took a second to compose herself. The princess raised a fingerless arm towards her companion.

“This is Sylvia Black, she’s my second in command.”

“Hello, nice to meet- WOAH you’re actually Minnie Mouse!” The gothic second in command exclaimed.

“…Yes! I am! Pleasure to meet you!” She curtsied.

“I apologize for my reaction,” she said, bowing respectfully. “Molly was quite convinced that ‘Minnie Mouse’ was a code name.”

“It’s okay. Yes, I’m the real thing, though I’m surprised you recognized me though, no one else around here seems to notice me.”

“Oh, most of the people around here were raised in Camelot so limited access to knowledge and stuff.”

“Yeah, I only knew because Molly showed me some of the cartoons ten minutes ago.” Sylvia added.

“Ca-cartoons?”

“Anyways.” Butted in the princess before follow up question ensued. “You’ll be staying in the palace until you can pick out a home. Let me take you there.”


As they walked, Minnie asked some questions.

“So who were those black cloaked figures?”

“Ambassadors.”

“Ambassadors?”

“Yeah, from a faction called the ‘Horsemen.’ Their appearance put me off too, thought I had an assassination on my hands.” She followed this with a short chuckle. “But they were legit.”

“So, what is this place about?”

“Oh, this city used to be called Langweilig. It was full of old-fashioned bigoted curmudgeons. Real unfriendly. Anyways, they all up and left one day.”

“All of them? Why?”

“Well, that’s a long story of it’s own, that requires a sit down with drinks, but yeah they left. The only ones that stayed behind were the ones that didn’t agree with the rest of the population, mostly teenagers. Since then, we’ve been welcoming in refugees and stuff. It’s been good.”

“I see.” Minnie responded, taking in everything.

Guu lead Minnie and Sylvia through the jungle sanctuary out in front. Soon, they were already in front of the palace entrance.

“Welcome to Pokute Palace!” She yelled out, a sense of Deje Vu hit her hard; it had only been a day when she said this exact same thing to Molly. A few pokute servants run by; one with a pair of garden sheers and another with a trowel. The two dash off to tend to the jungle flora.


-----


Adam was floating along when something caught his eye: it was a pair of penguins, both featuring unusual stripes, unloading from what looked like an old timey carriage with the “U-Haul” logo plastered over the side. They were helping a couple of gorillas in carrying boxes into what looked like a shop, or at least attempting to but they appear to be having an argument.

“I can’t believe you left the chafing dish at your mother’s!” Yelled the male penguin, who was donning a suit and tie.

“Like I said, Mother always throws more parties than we do, she’d get more mileage out of it than we could.” The female penguin responded.

“We didn’t throw more parties because we lived in the middle of goddamned nowhere!”

“Max! Don’t curse in front of the children!”

“Oh good grief, Delilah they’re still in the eggs.” He reached over and patted what turned out to be a nest containing two eggs wrapped in blankets.

“They can still hear you! That kind of foul tongue to rub off on them.”

“For fuck sake, it’s only-”

Suddenly, Max found himself with a bar of soap in his mouth. Delilah noticed Adam watching and turned her attention towards him.

“Oh! I’m sorry, we’re not ready to take customers yet.”

“Oh! Heh, no, I’m new to town, didn’t expect a pair of arguing penguins.”

Max coughed up the bar of soap, which landed as a big foamy mess on the ground. Delilah whacked him in the back of the head.

“Great! You wasted that!” She yelled.

He rubbed the back of his head and moaned. Adam took this chance to figure out his current location.

“So where am I?” The red-shirted one asked.

“Why, you’re in Ambrosia, deary. Safe haven for people like us!” She said pleasantly.

“Uueggg” Max spat out once more to get as much of the soap as he could before speaking. “We moved here to get a good home for our children, and to make a pretty penny. Gonna get loaded off this place.”

“You’re gonna make us look greedy!” The wife retorted

“Relax, nothing wrong with wanting a little extra dough to pave a good future for the kids!”

“What do you sell anyways?”

“Oh, firearms.” Said Delilah

“What what?”

She slid open a curtain covering the top of the wagon and before Adam was a wide selection of guns: pistols, shotguns, rifles, you name it!

“Could you believe the military around here is still using spears? Yep, definitely going to make mula here.” Max said excitedly. He reached over and pulled off one of the gatling guns and held it in his little penguins wings. “This one’s my favorite model. Doesn’t quite have the RPM as most gats, but it’s compatible with magic rounds. It’s epic as fu… umm… stuff.”

“Put that away, save it for the range.” The wife said.

“Speaking of which, I’ve been meaning to try out the new underground firing range. You look like a good shot, care to join in?” Max offered to Adam.

“Well, we’re getting no where with these boxes. Screw it, let the movers handle the rest. I feel like firing a few rounds off myself.” Said Delilah, picking up the nest with the intent of bringing the eggs with her.

“Even the misses is up for it. So what’d ya say kid?”

[Roger Smith]

Adam had seen his fair share of strange in his -- admittedly, relatively short compared to some -- span of years. He'd seen things that were now so normal to him as to be almost inconsequential that he was quite certain would leave some people mildly confused at best, or hopelessly clueless at worst. And yet...for once, Adam was the one that had been left virtually struck dumb.

He might have been able to accept the fact he was talking to penguins moving into a new place with the help of gorillas while attempting to unpack from a ye olde u-haul cart. That was relatively normal, or at least within the bounds of strange he was accustomed to experiencing. But for some reason, the idea of penguins....with guns....

It hit him out of left field.

He was left staring with a blank look, somewhere between muted awe and stark disbelief, when Delilah pulled aside the curtain on the wagon. The amount of firepower he could see just from a single look was just -- it wasn't quite mind boggling, per se, but it was most definitely not what he had expected to be presented with in any way, shape or form. If he was being completely honest with himself, which was an increasingly rare occurrence nowadays, though....it was really very close to leaving his poor mind very much boggled.

His awed stare lasted only a second or so, before being snapped out of it by the rather sudden offer presented to him by Max. Adam blinked once, diverting his eyes to first Max and the ridiculously awesome gun he still held, to Delilah and her blanket-wrapped nest of eggs, back to the massive pile of firepower. And then his expression didn't exactly split in two with the volume of the grin that spread over it...but it was damn close. And if Adam wasn't so generally non-menacing. it probably would have been a little...unsettling. "Well, I guess I don't have much else to do. Yeah, sure, I'll take you guys up on that." He paused, his expression settling back into something more normal, and settled down to stand on terra firma once again, affixing his crutch under his right arm and leaning on it heavily.. "So, uh, just lead the way, I guess."

Luckily for the red-clad youth, he had been spared the no doubt strange reaction to his odd response of being asked to join in at the firing range by the convenient timing of Max focusing on re-arranging his hold on the gatling gun in his wings -- the freaking gatling gun that was compatible with magic rounds, for the love of the scratch, that was almost too awesome for words -- but when he spoke up with his agreement, the male penguin looked back up and gave a sort nod. "Well alright then, just give us a minute here and follow me."

Adam waited for a moment while the husband and wife penguin pair fidgeted among the collection of firepower in the wagon, picking out the particular death-breathing implements they had a particular fancy for trying out. For his part, Adam simply took a good long, hard look at the assembled weapons, making notes of the ones that looked particularly awesome. When this shop got up and running, he'd have to come back by for a closer look. Given his preferred method of dealing with things who were out to cause him bodily harm, some new ways to fight back while keeping out of reach were almost never a bad thing.

Soon enough, the former god of time who lost all his powers stumped along after the pair of penguins on the crutch he really didn't need anymore but kept using because he'd been making assumptions about his physical state for way too long now, and followed them down to their underground firing range. He took the chance during the short trip to ask something he'd been wondering about. "So, you said this place was called Ambrosia, yeah?"

Delilah looked over her shoulder at the gear-bearing one. "That's right. Why do you ask?"

"Just tryin' to remember where I've heard that name before. It's been bothering me ever since you said it, and I can't place it."

"Well, if you've never been here in person before, then I guess you might've heard about it from someone who's been through here?" Max offered up, looking thoughtful on the subject himself.

"Nah....haven't really talked much to anyone since I showed up in the Nexus or whatever it's called."

"Hmm....well, you don't happen to use the Dataverse, do you? Pretty sure folks have been mentioning it there, at least every now and then."

Adam's eyes lit up at mention of the Dataverse and he snapped the fingers of his free left hand. "That's it! There's where I know the name from! Man, that makes this whole thing kinda surreal....stumbling across a place by accident that I'd heard about to such an extent already without even knowing it..." He resisted the urge to have his open palm meet his face in a most aggressive fashion again, merely shaking his head at his own cluelessness.

Max and Delila shared a brief chuckle, that Adam sincerely hoped wasn't entirely at his own expense. "Well, I wouldn't worry about it too much. You ain't the first that's just wandered by or right on into town without a clue where they were, even just since we've been settin' up shop here."

"Oh. Well....then I feel less insecure about my ability to notice things, I guess."