7th Heaven Chronicles

7th Heaven Chronicles

Chapter 6

‘’You must go on adventures to find out where you truly belong.’’ – Sue Fitzmaurice

An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with some potential for physical danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting or participating in extreme sports. Adventures are often undertaken to create psychological arousal or in order to achieve a greater goal such as the pursuit of knowledge that can only be obtained in a risky manner. 

 

---7HC---

 

(Kusanagi Miyo)

 

1 week later

 

She woke up with the sun’s rays shining through the dark curtains of her room. Miyo closed her eyes again, tired by the constant training that she was put through each morning by Wolf, the man may have a handsome face but he was truly a demon. Who does a ten kilometer run each morning? Miyo didn’t sign up to become a candidate for the Shogun army!

After training them almost to exhaustion, that Seven woman dumped them into a bath of really foul smelling liquid, but they did feel better after the fact as if they were being given a powerful healing. 

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Miyo growled at the familiar sound of the morning bell; oh she had come to loathe that enchanted bell with all her being, its sounds could be heard from anywhere in the Hestia compound. 

And Miyo loved her peace and sleep. 

But everything wasn’t bad in the Vesta District, Miyo and the other newbies had food, shelter and work; but the mandatory training each morning was killing her. There was also the fact that updating their status would only be every three months while they train like monks.

The young woman sat up from her bed, looked at the bare walls of her apartment and promised herself to personalize it eventually. Or she could commission Lady Seven for arts and decorations… the woman was carving statues or painting in her spare time and often gifted her work to the familia members. Miyo looked through the window and gazed upon the new addition to the square. 

It was a giant statue of Goddess Hestia standing with a beautiful smile and holding onto a big Brazier made of a golden metal she suspected was stronger than adamantite as the gold didn't melt because of the intense fire burning within it.

The statue was perfect and it looked as if a giant Hestia was standing there, overlooking the entire District. This statue was special in that it didn’t wear Hestia’s normal apparel, but a long white dress with blue flame patterns; the colors were obviously magical as color on a statue was a novel idea. 

Her eyes slid from the expansive window to her wardrobe, she stood up and took off her dark silken nightgown, letting it pool at her feet on the bamboo-like flooring. Miyo admired herself in the floor length mirror on the wall, noticing that just one week of training and being dumped into the regeneration baths had made her slightly more muscular.

The far eastern girl put on her white exercise tunic with her name embroidered on it and dark blue pants that were issued to her by the Familia and put on her boots. This was the official training uniform of the Familia, and it was made of uncommon quality fabric, even better than anything she’d seen a god wear. It didn’t help that this set of clothes was tear resistant and repaired itself, it only needed a wash in a wooden basin filled with cold water to instantly clean it as well.

Lady Seven had no idea of how much she changed the life of everyone around her or the impact of her inventions on the fledgling Familia. She treated everything she comes up with as if it was completely mundane. The enchanted heater, the dish washing box and the running water pipe in the kitchen and toilet made life so much easier. Then there was the bathhouse she created with the marvelous bath called Jacuzzi where Familia members could relax in…

Those were perfect.

What was galling to Miyo was that Lady Seven worked all the time and went to the dungeon, only resting the night. *When does she take a break?*

The answer to that was never… And it made Goddess Hestia mad all the time, Miyo had seen the Goddess force her way into Lady Seven's workshop and force her to relax and do nothing. 

This caused all the female members of the Hestia Familia beside Lady Seven to meet in the bathhouse last Wednesday to decide to help Goddess Hestia stop Seven from overworking herself as she was the one who maintained the appliances that made their new standards of life possible. Miyo walked toward her bathroom and took her toothbrush sitting in a wooden cup with the Lady Seven created toothpaste.

After three minutes of slow brushing, she spat the paste from her mouth and used some of the water from the water faucet to clean her mouth, passed her tongue on her teeth and made a brilliant smile in the mirror facing her. Before joining the Hestia Familia, Miyo had never known what it was to truly feel clean; sure they had bathhouses in the Far East and the bathing culture was excellent, but now Miyo felt as if she had been unclean before, this had turned everyone into neat freaks in the Familia.

Miyo quickly vacated her bathroom and her apartment and closed the door. The door locked automatically; another thing that she liked with her new home was how the magic lock worked, from what Lady Seven explained, the door read her ‘aura’ and locked or opened through her intent. Privacy and safety was guaranteed in the apartment complex.

Descending the stairs leading outside the complex, Miyo closed her eyes as the sun started to rise in the horizon. She walked toward the bricked path leading outside the apartment complex gardens. Miyo walked to the meeting place before the tall white stone walls of the Vesta compound. Already, there were people here; the tall form of the Amazon wearing the training uniform appeared first, she was surrounded by Tyerr and his wives.

As usual Xena and Aya weren’t present as they worked respectively as a maid or a clerk in Lady Seven’s shop and trained in shifts in the underground Arena with Cloud. The Arena was an underground construction that was… unique. The amazon heard Miyo arrive and turned to her and waved at her in greetings.

"Hey there, Kusanagi!" The giant woman gave Miyo a handsome smile.

Miyo slightly bowed and smiled back at her fellow Hestia Familia member. "Greetings, Krishna-san."

At first, she had thought her a pervert but after hearing the story of her being a demi-goddess and having received the enchanted tiny pieces of armor; which acted as full plates. Miyo understood that Uyle Krishna was just reluctant to part with an excellent piece of armor. Uyle was a good and warm person as she discovered, she was also her neighbor.

Ashera and Tyerr smiled at the two women, they were about to speak to them when they heard the gates of the Vesta Mansion open, the beautiful and heavenly looking garden stretched around the mansion, with glowing flowers and trees. Passing through the tall gates, was Flower in her own uniform sauntering toward them. The Familia’s captain started greeting everyone in the energetic and friendly way she always used, until she got to Miyo.

“Hiya, Miyo.”

Miyo bowed more formally to Flower than the other as she was her direct superior. "Good morning, Flower."  

With an appreciative glance, Flower said, "I see, you woke up by yourself today."

Miyo flinched at that remark and lowered her gaze. "I… didn't want to brave Wolf-san's ire… or being woken up by a bucket of cold water, again."  

Wolf-san was a handsome man and strong man, he was rather agreeable and gifted with a dark sense of humor and was devoted to his wives, completely. But he was also a no-nonsense slave driver, who, although caring deeply for his Familia, pushed them hard during training. But no one hated Wolf-san even if his behavior seems to be eccentric, because he often delivered outlandish speeches to boost his familia’s morale and make them laugh.

Flower smiled awkwardly. “Ah yes, Wolf is merciless when in Drill Sergeant Mode… I prefer when he uses it in bed.”

Miyo blushed at that. Before she could say anything, a familiar voice shouted, “A-ten-hut!”

This caused everyone, not Flower, to run before the gate and stop before Wolf in ranks. They stood ramrod straight while the tall blond man looked at them. He walked toward them, stopping before Tyerr and looking at his uniform, the half-elf had a bad tendency to come to training with only pants and boots. After getting his ass kicked by Wolf, he reluctantly put it on.

After finishing inspecting everyone, Wolf stood there in a similar uniform as them with his big sword behind his back. "Welcome recruits! I hope you all had a good night, because I'm finally going to push you a little more today. Come on, follow me to the Arena.”

Miyo followed the man who passed them and walked toward the Arena that reminded her of the coliseum owned by the Ganesha Familia, but not as big. The facility was built between the Vesta mansion and the Square; the bricked road leading to it was of a different color than the other ones in the district, the bricks were completely red.

The sky gradually lightened as the group walked through the district sized town, the birds started to sing from the trees they passed, and they crossed path with Aya and Xena helping Lady Seven prepare the material to build her weapon shop. The beautiful dark haired woman waved at them and sent flying kisses at Flower and Wolf.

Once they arrived, Miyo gazed upon the white colored building, an oval amphitheater and it was three stories high. The structure itself was fifty meters high and thirty meters wide. The amphitheater was ringed by ten entrances at ground level; each entrance and exit was numbered, as was each staircase. All four axial entrances were richly decorated with painted reliefs of warriors of different races fighting monsters or themselves.

As they entered through the northern entrance; Miyo was struck by how big it was inside as it was the first time they entered this building. It was even more beautiful than the Ganesha’s Familia coliseum.  Miyo spied boxes and more luxurious seating arrangements, showing that Lady Seven had mimicked Ganesha’s tiered seating arrangements that favored the gods and the rich inhabitants of the city. The Far Eastern girl also guessed that Goddess Hestia had planned to host events here.

Her booted feet met the sand stretching before her, when suddenly the morning sky darkened and became as black as the night and then Miyo was under a starry sky. Everyone gasped as they witnessed a meteor shower.

Wolf chose this moment to speak. "This is the Chamber of Trials, recreated here by my dear wife, Seven."

Miyo was asking herself, *Is there nothing that that woman can’t do?*

The woman created a sustainable magical illusion that covered the sky in the Arena. Miyo was sure that she had seen everything now, nothing would surprise her anymore when Lady Seven was concerned.

"What is its purpose, Wol-" Miyo asked Wolf, but he looked at her with a glare and she automatically changed how she addressed him, "I mean, sir?"

A wolfish smile (pun intended) appeared on the blond man’s face. “Mhm, for that we need a guinea pig, thanks for volunteering, Miss Kusanagi.”

Miyo’s eyes widened. “Wait, no.”

Why was Wolf so petty today? She asked a good question. Miyo turned to the others behind who all looked relieved that they weren’t chosen. “Traitors!”

Flower smiled at her and raised her chin and pointed her finger at Wolf who had brought two far eastern swords with him. They looked like two generic Katanas. “Here, take a weapon and enter the room. You use two sword rights?”

“But…!” Miyo tried to argue again.

But Wolf was having none of it. “Go on.” 

The Far Eastern girl growled and took the two katanas and strapped them at her belt. Wolf pushed her to walk at the center of the Arena and Miyo was sassy enough to ask, “What happens now, sir?”

“Prepare to defend yourself, of course.” Wolf said.

Suddenly there was no frustrating blond man near her, and Miyo found herself between the light blue colored walls of the first floor of the dungeon. She was so surprised by the shift that she instinctively drew one of her katannas."What? Where…!"

"Chiyiiik!" A familiar cry rang behind her.

When she turned, Miyo was facing a tri-horned green and plump humanoid monster with large red eyes."Goblin!"

The monster immediately lunged at her, drool flying with its stone knife, however, Miyo easily dodged it and cut its left arm. As it held onto it and screeched in pain, the Far Eastern girl surged toward it and swung her blade downward in an arc. "Die."

Bisecting the goblin completely, making it cry with a short, “Graaaa-” as it died and turned into black particles and dispersed in the wind leaving its core on the ground.

Miyo didn’t let down her guard even if she killed the goblin, where there was one, there must be another group of them following. And as if the dungeon had hearkened to her thoughts, she heard the chatter of goblins coming from further ahead.

“Chiyiiik!” “Chiyiiik!” “Chiyiiik!” Multiple goblins were running toward her, their footsteps echoing in the wide hallway she found herself in.

“More of them?!” Miyo heard at least three or five goblins.

First she calmed herself down with a slow breath, letting it flow deep down in her belly. Miyo unsheathed her second katana and entered into a combat stance, her two swords held parallel as their tips were pointing to her right side. “Nitoryu.”

“Nigiri.” Each of the blades channeled Miyo’s magic and caught on fire.

The goblins finally entered in her line of sight, they ran toward her, murder in their eyes, brandishing stone knives or improvised clubs made of thick dead branches. As she breathed out and slammed her dominant foot on the rocky floor, propelling herself toward the goblins at breakneck speed; Miyo swung down her blades in a circular motion when she reached them.

“Blooming Flame dance.” And then slashed all of them in one swoop.

Miyo appeared behind them, having stopped moving, all the goblins were wreathed in fire and screamed at the same time and were quickly turned into cinder. Their monster cores landed heavily on the stone ground. She didn’t hear anymore goblins coming for her; Miyo allowed herself to… relax. It was at this point that the dungeon slowly disappeared around her, the hallway turning into mist and then she was back in the Arena, her feet solidly on the ground.

To her surprise everyone was clapping and Wolf looked at her with a smug grin, arms crossed and showing off his impressive muscles. “So, Kusanagi, how did you like the Chamber of Trials?”

“...” Miyo wanted to wack his head with her sword.

 

---7HC---

(Seven)

 

2 days later
Forest outside of Orario

After building a sturdy self-driving carriage, I exited Orario with the excuse that I was going to collect cheaper material in the forest. Traveling between Orario and Beol's mountain to reach the forest was really bothersome to Seven. But she needed to be far enough from the city to be safe from detection; once Seven was a certain distance from those pesky and nosey gods she would be able to finally do what she intended since she landed in this new world.

The dark haired woman reached the edge of the forest and stopped the carriage in the plain. After hopping out of it, she clicked on the button next to the driving wheel and turned the carriage back into its portable form, a snowglobe and placed it inside her bag. Seven’s outfit changed to a more airy one consisting of a white bustier, with a red pleated skirt with golden trim, red tights and black boots of master craft quality. Her hooded cloak didn’t change, then she summoned a beautiful focus staff and a jeweled gauntlet that she placed on her left arm.

Next, she walked into the forest. Seven found this world rather different from Gaia, there were less monsters on the surface. On the way she did have some encounters, mainly with goblins, and flying type monsters like Purple Moths and Bad bats; nothing dangerous and that a Fira spell couldn't burn.

However Seven’s good fortune ran out. A shadow passed over her and as she looked up she saw… a huge creature circling her position.

SKREEEEEEEE!

It had the head of an eagle and big wings, its body reminded me of a lion, and its forelimbs were also birdlike with sharp talons. It was huge as well, at least two meters long with a wingspan of seven meters and a half.

“A griffin so close to Orario?” Seven cursed her luck.

The griffin charged toward her, but Seven wouldn’t engage this creature in close quarter; Seven brandished her staff and focused her magic.  “Thundara!!”

Krakoooom! A huge bolt of blue lightning struck the flying monsters and the beast crashed in the meadow she was in. The creature screeched in pain, but it wasn’t enough to kill it as it stood back up.  Seven readied a series of spells that she called out, “Stun!” 

“Blind!” 

Two beams of dark blue light struck the beast in the chest and head.

The griffin stopped moving as it was afflicted by the Black Magic spells, giving her time to channel her magic. Orange light wrapped her body and it was just as the beast was recovering from being stunned that she unleashed her attack. 

“Fucking go down! Firaga!” A ball of flames coalesced over her focus staff and Seven threw it at the monster.

Boom! A huge explosion happened when it hit the griffin, it screeched one last time before its head fell on the ground after a good chunk of its body was obliterated. The griffin’s body turned black and disappeared into particles in the air, leaving a rather sizable core and a… feather.

“I hate flying monsters…” Seven said out loud.

Those had always been hard for her to fight when she only relied on her martial arts; but now Seven wasn’t just a Zangan Style practitioner, she was a Caster Demi-Servant with terrible might. Seven pointed her arm toward the core and the drop item, her storage bracelet emitted a light toward them and they disappeared into her bag of holding.

Seven continued to walk through the meadow, marking her position by carving arrows on the trees’ trunk that she passed until she was deep into the forest. Seven didn't end up here by coïncidence, she had walked toward the center of the forest to get at the convergence of ley lines it had grown onto.

The Thaumaturgist had several objectives she needed to accomplish in this forest; first find the ley lines nexus, build a temporary altar and bounded field and complete her main objective.

 

---7HC---

 

Forest’s glade
1 hour later

 

The nexus was inside a glade with a grove of trees in its center; a rocky formation spearing up in the middle of it. Seven armed her Reinforcement magecraft, used a Structural Analysis spell, and saw the new material inside the rock as a vein of Mithril that was channeling the mana from the ley line to the surface. It was why the air was charged with magic in this forest and why a monster like the griffin could be seen here. 

It was strange to her that Orario’s Guild wasn’t aware of it. Seven shrugged. “Their loss, my gain.”

This place was now a future bug out base of the Hestia Familia, in case things ever go sour for them in the city. Seven has run all over the glade and transmuted four pillars at the four cardinal directions, north, east, south, and west with statues at the top of them. Bahamut to the east, Phoenix to the south, Byakko to the west and Genbu to the north.

Now she was about to activate a powerful bounded field. She would pour a drop of blood on the rock formation that she reshaped in the image of voluptuous succubus with horns like a crown, and impressive feathered wings. The Statue’s face was of an otherworldly beauty that Seven didn’t think could capture Lilith’s essence.

When she pricked her finger, Seven let out one drop of her blood on the altar with the statue mounted on it. Blue light shone from between the hands of the stone demoness and in a blink of an eye, a dome made of magic and pure force spread from the center of the glade to its outskirts.

“Phase one complete.”

This was the perfect moment to do it, she had secured her new base, now she could do what she had come here for. From her bag of holding, Seven pulled out a heavy black leather bound book. On the cover was written ‘Codex of Samsara’ and she put her hand on it and it suddenly opened to the preface.

Greetings, you are now the lucky owner of the Codex of Samsara . 

What is the Codex you might be wondering? The Codex of Samsara is an offshoot of the Dead Ends Codex, but compared to it, the Codex of Samsara functions in different ways; such as locking out the user from summoning beings they’re not ready for (gods, abstract entities) and there can only be a summoning depending on the user’s resources and accommodations or if the user obtains permission from Overgoddess Lilith.

Every once in a while things do not go the way they are supposed to. A hero who is supposed to win instead loses. Now, such a situation on its own is bad enough, however, what if the survival of a world was at stake? That world is utterly destroyed and everyone in it is killed of course.

It has been observed that for every version of a world where the hero wins and saves the day, uncountable  versions of the same world are being destroyed constantly as the hero or groups of heroes constantly fail to perform for some reason or another. This has resulted in a massive surge of souls of those who now do not even have an afterlife to look forward to.

These situations have been labeled Dead Ends, due to the fact they are unable to continue in any meaningful fashion. The Samsara Codex was created to give a chance for these souls to find a new home and hopefully fix the massive overcrowding issue currently being experienced. To help facilitate things, chosen souls will be given a new body to be a perfect match for their original one, though you may specify their age. The soul you’ve chosen will be given time to heal in your sponsor’s realm to reduce or get past the trauma they may have suffered.

Now the important part is how do you use the Codex of Samsara? A good portion of it is automated, it will only show you a selection of those with the skills you need and would have a decent chance of getting along with. This option can be changed once the user becomes more experienced, but is not recommended for beginners (like you). Nevertheless, the filter system isn't perfect. 

While your chosen souls may all get along well with you, it does not mean they all will play nice with each other. 

Now, Agent 07 who is it that you desire to summon?

Number of summons available: 4

Seven closed her eyes, massaged her left temple with a free hand while holding the Codex with the other. *Great… I just went through the tutorial; and this thing has already loaded that message into my head. By Lilith, this seems like one of those ancient interactive technologies in the form of a book.*

Seven knew which soul she wanted to summon; she had been tempted to recall everyone from Avalanche who died such as Yuffie, Jessie, Barret and the others… but she stopped herself, she had only 4 summons available; Seven needed more time to develop the Familia’s infrastructure and be sure that neither the Guild nor Freya and Loki would meddle and then… and then she would bring all her friends back to life. But what the Familia needed right now was more warriors to bolster their force.

Seven turned a page in the Codex, the blank page turned into… a search engine. On the page a myriad of names appeared and scrolled down on the page. *How peculiar. It's looking for the criteria I set for myself.* 

What I wanted was a Swordswoman or Swordsman, swift, decisive, smart and with a lust for battle. The list stopped on three names:

Mordred Pendragon 

Busujima Saeko

Erza Scarlet

Oh… what’s this? A Servant, a Mage and a Highschooler. The book once again loaded everything I needed to know about those three women; First was the child in the body of a teenager, seeking recognition from a father that didn’t know of her existence. I now knew how she lived to rise against the one she wanted recognition from and kill her.

Seven didn’t want anyone with that baggage, at least not now. Mordred Pendragon’s name disappeared from the list, but it appeared in the reserve list for later, this knight might be needed some other time after all. The dark haired thaumaturgist focused on the second one; and her expression turned into one of disgust… not at the young woman but at the world she came from. 

What Seven saw was in her mind was the birth of a warrior, a girl who has never fit in her overly peaceful country; as she was nurtured  to follow a warrior code of conduct: The Bushido. The purple haired young woman grew up to become a very kind, caring, strong and reliable person; but thanks to her training in the way of the blade is also calm and collected and never loses her cool. 

However, deep inside her heart the young woman hides a sadistic and violent nature. The facade of a well mannered and cultured young woman falls away when she’s pushed too far. It happened when her world was struck by a pandemic which made the dead rise. Seven was disgusted by how easily that world descended into anarchy. Young Saeko has thrived in that environment before dying by the hands of her fellow humans instead of the dead.

Seven decided that she could definitely have someone like Saeko at her side; she saw herself definitely becoming friends with her… and more. The Thaumaturgist placed Busuhima Saeko in the list of people she will definitely summon.

The third choice, it was an attractive redhead with a powerful body and stout conviction; she was also a really strong mage. Erza scarlet was a loyal person, the only thing that mattered to her were her friends, her guild and family. Seven decided that even if Erza was a good person… her method grated on her. Upholding justice was well and good, but she was a rather physical person in everything she did. 

“What told me to not summon Erza Scarlet was the fact that she would beg or force me to summon everyone she lost with the Codex.” So there was only one valid choice.

Summoning soul: Busujima Saeko

Y/N?

*Yes.* 

Tremendous power built up from the book in Seven’s hand, and right before her, a myriad colored portal opened. It was like a hole in the universe was ripped open. Seven smiled, she had been right; summoning people with the Codex of Samsara was better to be done under a heavy bounded field and a Rank A magical barrier. 

The young woman in a school uniform that appeared through the portal was tall despite her Asian ancestry; with long and toned legs that made Seven appreciative. She also has straight and shiny thigh-length straight purple hair that has a triangular fringe at the front which barely touches the ridge of her nose. Her blue eyes shone like sapphire, her lips were pink and inviting, her face was heart shaped… Seven’s eyes fell on her perky breasts jiggling as the purplette walked toward her.

“Welcome Busujima-san.” Seven slightly bowed her head in Far Eastern fashion.

“I hope that you know why you're here?”

Saeko bowed respectfully, then straightened herself and looked Seven in the eyes with a gracious smile. "Thank you for recalling my soul. And yes I do, Lilith-sama has explained everything to me…"

Lilith was Seven’s sponsor and a demon goddess of untold power reigning over a large sector of the omniverse. Her current goal was to defend her territory and significantly reduce the proliferation of Dead Ends universes in her backyard. And Lilith took her duty seriously. So far, she’s been accommodating with Seven going slow and establishing herself in Orario; but something told Seven that her time for that was running out.

The events of this setting were coming closer to happen. Already, she had a plan to avoid a Dead End; and no one would stop her from safeguarding this reality. Taking on a thoughtful expression, Seven asked, "By curiosity, how long did you stay in her realm?"

"Two years." Saeko said abashedly, her gaze low.

This behavior and her body language told me that whatever therapy she got from Lilith’s realm wasn’t enough. Hestia and Seven could work on her slowly and acclimate her to this world; and with the information that Seven obtained thanks to the Codex she felt that she could save Saeko’s sanity. And she just knows how to start.

Seven opened the Codex and went to the menus, chose the points shop and looked for something that will surely help Saeko in this world.

 

Current balance: 325 Points

 

Hinokami Kagura (Dance of the Fire God) - 70 points

Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū (Flying Heaven Govern Sword-Style) - 55 points

Kyotōryū (Flow of the Empty Sword) - 150 points

…

 

She read the description of the three and immediately eliminated Kyotōryū despite it being the most powerful of the lot, *The requirements for mastering the techniques were too steep. That leaves…*

Seven’s eyes fell on the second technique listed.

55 points - Martial Arts bought: Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū 

Points left: 270

A pearl the size of a golf ball appeared in Seven’s right hand in a flash of white light; she looked up at Saeko and threw the orb at her, “Here, this is for you. A welcome to the team gift.”

Saeko caught it mechanically. *Good eyes and hand coordination.*

The technique orb started to shine into the purplette’s hands; her eyes widened in wonder. “O-oh my!” 

There was pure joy expressed on Saeko's face, and for Seven, it was… sexy to watch the young woman moan at the white orb in her hands. The purplette then turned her face to Seven, there was a girlish tone in her voice as she asked, “A-are you sure… that I can have this?”

Saeko is a Samurai, or at least she considers herself one and she’s what people call an Otaku; a fan of the Rurouni Kenshin series. Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū is the legendary signature fighting style of Himura Kenshin, and the Meiji Era inheritor and Kenjutsu master Hiko Seijūrō XIII. Seven guessed that it was another media series to watch with the core group to have an idea of what the hype was for Saeko.

Seven giggled and showed her gauntleted fist. “I am more of an empty handed martial artist, Busujima-san.”

Closing the Codex, Seven put it into her bag; at the same time Saeko looked at Seven and put on a wry smile. She remembered who she was talking to. Seven's was a punch wizard from an iconic role playing game. “Oh yes, you’re… famous for being effective at close quarters.”

When Seven looked back from her bag to the purplette, Saeko became more serious and asked, “Lockhart-san, can I ask you something?”

Seven was suddenly before Saeko, put her hand on the younger woman’s mouth; she looked around herself and opened her magical senses. She sighed in relief as she detected no scrying window spying on her; then she glowered at Saeko with a harsh look. “You’re lucky we’re in a protected space, gods can spy on us…”

Letting go of her, Seven stepped back from Saeko who looked at her with shock on her face; Saeko didn’t even see her move. Then the purplette began to think. “Are you concealing your identity?”

Seven gave her a sharp nod. “Yes.”

“May I ask what for?”

“Some Deities in this world can see people’s souls and… meddle with them. There’s a Goddess at the city where our Familia is based, who would stop at nothing to acquire us.”

“I am truly in another world, so slavery is a thing…” Saeko lowered her eyes to her feet, then looked back up at Seven. “Will I have to as well?”

Seven thought about that, wearing the obfuscation cloak wasn’t truly necessary and Saeko could use her full name. Aerith, Cloud and her had chosen to give up their name to receive a multiversal perk to be immune against being captured or controlled by the Dark Companies and Jumpers or any sort of manipulation methods. But the others that she would summon weren’t. 

Seven doubted Saeko would make such a sacrifice as she cherished her family deeply. “It depends if you care about being noticed or not. Anyway, call me Seven; and what did you want to ask me?”

The purple haired young woman leaned against the altar behind her and said with doubt and anguish, “Why did you choose me? I am… a sinful woman, quick to give into her own bloodlust and sadistic desires… I-I like causing pain and… I don’t deserve your attention.”

As she gazed into Saeko’s blue eyes, Seven saw how deeply hurt and repressed she was; the therapy she had had with Lilith at least allowed the young woman to open herself to Seven, who caught Saeko’s left forearm. “Hey, you… what are you saying? From everything I’ve learned about you, you’re a good person.”

“I’m not…” She tried to take back her arm but couldn’t as she wasn’t strong enough.

Saeko began to start a rant about how she was an evil person, but she was interrupted by Seven who shook her head vehemently. “You’re not broken or damaged or evil. It’s just that you’re not made for the world you were born in. Here we are in a world where you can truly let loose!”

The younger woman stopped moving, this was the first time someone was saying that to her. She answered doubtfully. “Really?”

Seven let go of Saeko’s arm and placed her hands on her hips and grinned. “Yup! You'll love this world, if there’s assholes who want to kill you, you can attempt to kill them back too! Oooh, and there's a lot of monsters in the dungeon and the surface of this world that you can kill by giving your all and level up like in a video game.”

Pointing at herself, then at Saeko, Seven said, “This is where we belong, Busujima-san; here your skills and person will be appreciated.”

Taking on a wondering expression, Seven said out loud, “You know… I can’t imagine myself in a utterly peaceful society like yours had been… that Japan place, I would’ve gone crazy too!” The dark haired woman shouted, telling the honest truth. “In my world, Gaia, it was the law of the jungle outside of the cities even more so in the slums I’ve lived in. Monsters crawled everywhere from the sewers to the alleys… then there was also the people trying to steal or kill you, or turn you into a sex slave. Damn, it was so satisfying to break their faces and kill them.”

As she looked at the delighted and longing filled face of the older woman, Saeko’s cheeks reddened, she looked quite flushed as she imagined the world Seven came from.“Truly? I wish to have lived that freely, Seven-san.”

Seven flinched as she remembered what she was trying to do. “Anyway, Busujima-san, like I was saying in this current world, you can also gain power as you level up and with the technique I gave you, you’ll stand head and shoulder above the rabble here.”

Saeko seemed to feel truly hopeful for this new world when Seven finished explaining how everything worked here; at the same time she got to see the other woman's plan to build a house in this forest. Already she was feeling that things will be different around Seven…

 

---7HC---

(Busujima Saeko )

 

1 day later

 

Saeko marveled at the combat kimono that her new friend had created for her. It was made with the silk of a monster called a Deformis Spider; the purple black fabric was as strong as chainmail and shock absorbent. But it was so soft to the touch that the feeling of it on her skin was otherworldly. Saeko gazed at the red eyed older woman… Tifa Lockhart or should she say, Seven,was a peculiar person. 

Right now, she was busying herself with building a house, a wooden one, with her magic. Earlier today, Seven had dug the foundation in the stone and created a basement; seeing stones part like water and form a rectangular hole hole in the ground had been fascinating. Saeko wanted to know if she would be able to do something similar later down the line.

Seven finished the ground floor of the loghouse she was building, Saeko had even helped cut down the trees that they were using as materials. The purplette looked at the magic ax two meters from here with its blade in the trunk of a downed tree. When she had used it, it was like she was cutting through butter with the blade, in two strikes, she felled the trees.

The possibilities that magic offered were numerous and had started a paradigm shift in the way she thought. *How would a society develop with the advent of magic?* 

The only way to get her answers was to go out in this world and find out. In the end, Seven took her till sunset to finish the house. It was a mixture of the rustic and the modern, the chimney and the wall supporting it was made out of stone. Seven called it a log house, but in reality it looked like one of those rich chalets in the mountain that the rich would possess. 

The ground floor contained at least six rooms, the kitchen, living room, dining room, the bathroom, toilet and workroom; up the second floor was where the four bedrooms and another bathroom that Seven had built. There was no furniture inside, just the lacquered wooden flooring with an impressive grain.

With the loghouse complete, Saeko thought that this would be the end of it, but no… Seven wanted to build a workshop and a Forge.

"Why?" Saeko found herself asking as she looked at Seven using her magic to make simple chairs and a table.

She just held on a stack of wooden planks and traced a chalk circle on the stone porch and in a flash of light, furniture kept appearing by recombining the matter with a transmutation spell. At least that’s how she explained what she’s been doing to Saeko.

“Can you test the chair for me?” Seven asked her as she was kneeling on the stone ground with an unsure expression about the chair she just created.

Saeko nodded, and took the outdoor wooden armchair and sat on it; it didn’t creak or collapse under her. It was solid and comfy, the texture of the wood wasn’t unpleasant as well, but she wouldn’t say no to a thin cushion. “It’s pleasant enough.”

A victorious grin appeared on Seven’s face, and then there was another flash of light and another outdoor armchair appeared from the last stack of wood. The dark haired beauty stood up, placed it at Saeko’s side and said, “Good, hmm, really good. Oh and to answer your question, Busujima-san. I want to forge you a Katana.”

This took Saeko by surprise, a genuine weapon? Made by a genuine magical craftsman? She felt as if she was the heroine of a story.

“Something strong that will serve you until you reach the eighteenth floor of the dungeon.” Seven explained this as if she was telling her that her first custom blade would just be one of many.

This didn’t sit well with Saeko, a blade is supposed to be your partner in battle and for life. Saeko was less enthusiastic about getting a weapon suddenly, because of her familial samurai lineage she had expectations that she couldn’t do away with. "Is it truly necessary?"

Seven heard the displeasure in Saeko’s tone, but to reassure her, she needed to give her more information. “It is. I want to give you the means of protecting yourself, Busujima-san. But maybe I should explain why it’s needed to get better weapons as you descend into the dungeon…”

And she did explain in graphic detail to Saeko; the further you descended in the dungeon, the more the level of the monsters rose, as well as their resistance to magic and physical harm became exponential. 

“A simple steel blade would break on the scales of the Green Dragon by example.” Seven gave Saeko an example of what might happen if she didn’t change weapons.

Saeko hadn’t taken into account her new environment, there was no sentimentality to be had when a weapon could no longer do the job to kill your enemy. “ I… this is a good reason to change weapons, yes. I guess that I will have to adapt to this new world more than I thought. Thank you for explaining this to me.”

Seven nodded, then sat forward and put her hands on her thigh. “So… tell me, what do you want in a blade?" 

Saeko told her. 

 

---7HC---

 

2 days later
Outside the forest

 

Saeko looked at Seven loading all the wooden planks on the self-driving carriage; there was a literal mountain of them stacked on it. She had asked the woman why she needed so many and her answer had been ‘For projects you needn’t worry your pretty little head about’ and Saeko let the matter drop. However they were advancing rather slowly toward the city.

Saeko held onto her katana, it was stored in her improvised leather carry bag that Seven had helped her craft. Saeko opened it and laid her eyes on the incomplete sword. What it lacked was the Tsuka (handle), the Fuchi (collar), and a lot of parts that Seven would add when they arrive in the city, but at least the blade was complete and it was beautiful. Saeko stared at the rose pattern in the silvery steel blade.

She was satisfied with her sword, it had been crafted in primitive conditions but it was a perfectly crafted blade; sixty-nine centimeters in length of damascus steel, Seven intended to enchant the sword further for durability, cutting and stabbing; Saeko put her foot down when Seven wanted to add a self cleaning and anti-rust option. The purple haired beauty believed in taking care of her blade, she had heard from her father that weapons developed spirit as you maintained them by yourself. 

The blade wasn’t yet alive for Saeko, but she intended for her first custom weapon to obtain such a spirit. Saeko closed the carry bag and looked at the road. It was rough, but there were mechanical suspensions on the carriage that made the voyage comfortable for Saeko’s derriere.

The plains were green and lush, the sky was blue and almost cloudless; the air pure, purer than in Saeko’s previous world. She already loved the fact that this world was untouched by industrialization. She closed her eyes as the light breeze refreshed her. When she reopened them, it was to see gigantic light brown walls stretching as far she could see. Then there was the tall white tower standing tall, higher than any skyscraper from Earth.

“Is this the city?” Saeko asked, her sapphire blue eyes looking straight at the vision out of a fantasy. She recognized the place from the anime she watched, but didn’t watch more than the first season.

“Yeah, it looks daunting, right?” Seven said out loud as she continued to drive the carriage, infusing it with her magic as its fuel.

Saeko shrugged, unimpressed by Orario’s sight. “I’ve seen bigger, I went to New york before.”

Turning her head toward Saeko, and looking at her with an eyebrow raised, she replied with, “I don’t know much about your world, Busujima-san; but Midgard was bigger too, nevertheless, the city wasn’t made by gods. There’s a certain symmetry to Orario. It’s beautiful, even though it causes so much death everyday.”

“There’s beauty in death.” Saeko blurted out, suddenly more interested in the city now.

*Will I be able to deal in death, to give in to my baser instincts in a controlled fashion? Kami, I hope so.* Saeko said in her heart.

It took them one hour to reach Orario's north gate, they passed the farms managed by the Demeter Familia and other agriculture Deities, it was them feeding the city. There was a long queue of people trying to enter the city, but somehow Seven bypassed it and entered the gate. She stopped at the blue colored guardhouse, showed a paper that she took from her cloak.

There were demi-humans and humans everywhere, this shocked Saeko to see people with animal attributes, and then there were the elves and dwarves. “I can't believe the anime turned into reality…”

Saeko’s hand itched to touch those cat or dog ears… Seven’s voice pulled her out of her fantasy. "Oh you’ve seen the city before?”

The purplette nodded and gave the red eyed woman a smile. "I watched it on screen with some of my friends."

Fond memories of better times played in her mind, she still had her father and she could still go to play with Takagi Saya while her father trained Saeko’s own father. 

Seven found herself frowning at the sudden information. "You must come from a divergent timeline… what year was it in your previous world?"

"2016." Saeko replied.

Seven’s red eyes widened. "Yes, you're different from the Saeko I know. I watched the show you’d come from last night and it was in the year 2010."

Cocking her head at that strange revelation, Saeko was about to say something but she heard Seven gasp in surprise. She looked at a pair of teenagers behind them, a boy and a girl with silver hair and red eyes just like her; they looked to be thirteen to fourteen years old. “Oh Hestia’s tits, today is the day? Damn I wasn’t prepared for him to be here right now!”

Seven jumped off the carriage and power walked toward the children while avoiding the throng of people at the gates.

 

---7HC---

(Bell Cranel)

Orario’s Northern Gates

 

The young man kept vibrating in place, this was the place their grandfather had spoken so much about. The walls, the smells and the people, Bell looked excitedly at everything like the obvious village boy that he is. This was the first time he had seen so many people; there were only about one hundred people in his village after all.

Orario, also known as Labyrinth City Orario; a place where adventurers seek their fortunes for good or ill. The boy was raised on tales of heroics and adventures; he hoped that he would find love and companionship as well. How he had longed to finally see those walls and enter the city.

“This is it. We’ve finally arrived at Orario!” Bell jumped up and down in excitement. 

The silver haired girl at his side snorted at him. “Yes, yes, Bell. Now, why don’t you calm down?”

Bell turned to his twin sister, Adrestia. She wore a light brown and red dress made of cotton fabric and leather. It reached to her knees and showed off her brown leather boots; she held onto a black staff with a transparent crystal on top. She looked just like a Mage.

It was her who crafted her dress as well as the matching outfit that Bell was wearing. A brown leather jacket, a red tunic, black pants and boots. Bell loves his sister, the fact that she chose to forsake marriage and follow him on his adventure meant a lot to him. 

“But Adi… look! It’s a big city!” Bell pointed desperately at the open gates with his hands in an animated fashion.

The people behind him looked at his antics or laughed at him, causing Bell to stop and put on a sheepish expression with his shoulders slacking in embarrassment. 

Adrestia turned her head, looked at the people warily and shook her head. “Yes and you remember what Gramps said about this city?”

The silver haired girl's right hand tightened around her staff. Bell recognized that his sister had a guarded posture as if she was on a hunt; as if she was in enemy territory. 

“Huh…” after he realized that fact, Bell's body immediately went on alert.

How could he have forgotten? His grandfather had told him before he left that 'Sure, you can be whatever you want to in Orario, a hero, an adventurer or a dandy; but you shouldn't underestimate the city's darkness and be on your guard' and his grandfather had told him to trust Adrestia and follow her lead.

Bell had always been envious of his sister's talent at… everything. She was the best cook in their village, the best seamstress; she could read and write faster than he did, she was also the best hunter and trapper. His twin was smart and charismatic, many a village boy wanted to marry her and had asked for her hand.

Bell hadn't taken it well when they tried and may have threatened them to back off, no one will have his sister. He loves and admires her very much… Adrestia was the one to make their grandfather straighten up and be less of a lecherous old man.

She was also the one who convinced their grandfather to teach them how to defend themselves after the bandit raid on their village; she had saved so many people that day with her magic. Bell doesn’t know where she learned, but Adrestia had been described by their grandfather as a strong hedge Mage and Healer, and that she reminded him of their aunt, who had been a powerful adventurer in Orario.

After that revelation from their grandfather, Adrestia had decided that she wouldn’t be a simple village girl and insisted with their grandfather to be trained in magic. Five years later and here they were at Orario’s door. 

Adrestia rolled her eyes. “I swear, you only listen to what you want to hear, Bell.”

Her brother scratched behind his head embarrassingly. “Sorry…”

His sister chuckled, closed the distance between them and she patted his head lovingly. “You’re lucky that you’re cute.”

Bell’s cheeks were as hot as the fire of a forge. “Adi, please not before everyone…”

He didn’t have the time to worry as someone interrupted their little skit. “Hello there, kids.” 

When the twins turned to the voice addressing them, they saw that a gorgeous black haired and red eyed young woman had appeared before them. She wore a white shirt and a red skirt reaching to above her knee; all this was covered under a black cloak. 

Bell stood there transfixed and blurted out, “Are you an angel?”

She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, more beautiful than any girl in the village, more beautiful than Adrestia or the cute hunter girls from the roaming Chientrope tribe from the plains. The red eyed woman smiled at him and Bell felt blessed.

Until she opened her mouth, “Really, boy? You’re throwing Star Wars quotes at me?”

Bell cocked his head and frowned. “Huh, what’s Star Wars?”

Any answer from the dark haired beauty was stalled by a cute cry from behind him, “Ah!”

Bell turned to his sister and looked at her widened eyes and mouth agape; Adrestia raised a trembling arm at the beauty and pointed her index at her. “By the Gods, are you Tif-”

Bell didn’t even see her move and she was already at Adrestia’s side with a hand on her mouth. “Ah, so you’re the reincarnator…”

Adrestia stepped back from the woman, she looked afraid. “... H-how do you know that?”

A scary smile appeared on the angel’s face. “You’re in luck, I know the plot already.”

The dark haired beauty put her hand on the messenger bag at her side, then from it took two long black cloaks and held one to each of the teenagers. “Come on, put this on, kids. We’re going in.”

Adrestia took the cloak and put it on, and as she twirled with the cloak on she said, "It’s so comfy and soft!"

Bell looked at the cloak warily, reluctantly took it and put it on. The woman pulled Adrestia and Bell to a carriage near the guardhouse, some of the people they passed looked at them with jealousy or mumbling about wanting the same privileges and that the sun was too hot. 

“Where are you taking us?” Bell asked the beauty.

She didn’t even stop to look at them, she directed them to a really loaded carriage. “To my Familia, you’re going to join.”

Bell took his hand back from the slight grip of the dark haired woman; this time she stopped and looked at him. “Which one? And why should we listen to you?”

The woman raised a finger. “First, I’m from the Hestia Familia of course and I want you to join to avoid you kids getting snapped up by any criminals or stuck up Familias in town. Second, because you have no choice.”

“Oh.” Bell didn’t like being forced… he glared at the woman, finally stopping being bewitched by a pretty face.

He was about to tell the woman to leave them alone when Adrestia spoke. She had stepped forward and said, “But… I wanted to avoid the thirsty goddesses like Hestia and go for the Miach Familia. I want to learn how to make medicine…”

The woman chuckled. “Don’t worry, Hestia is not like she is in the show and we’re allies with the Miach Familia. Though if you want to be taught medicine we could arrange that.”

Adrestia perked up at that, showing a really eager expression. Bell knows that this has always been her dream to become the best Healer in the world. 

The woman then gazed at Bell, noticing that he still didn’t put the cloak on. “By the way, those cloaks protect your souls from being seen by the deities in town. Some of them are… fucking annoying.”

Adrestia’s put on a knowing smile. “You mean Frey-”

Once again, the woman shut up his sister by putting a hand on her mouth. “Don’t say her name, you might attract her attention.”

Red eyes looked into each other; and Adrestia seemed to understand what the lady meant. Bell’s sister nodded and then the dark haired beauty let go of her. “Ah, okay.”

Somehow Adrestia who should have been more wary of this new stranger was acting strangely as she interacted with her. Bell frowned at his sister. *Is Adi blushing?*

Adrestia being interested in another girl seemed ludicrous to Bell, in his head he thought that maybe his sister knew how strong this lady was and heard stories about her. Adrestia seemed to admire the story about their aunt named 'The Silence', his grandfather had told them how awesome she was despite having never met her.

Bell raised a hand and Asked, “Um, Miss I heard that every Familia has tests for those who want to join them and you… you’d let us join just like that? No test, no… demands.”

A thin eyebrow raised, the dark haired Lady asked, “Tests? What for?"

"In the Hestia Familia there’s a mandatory two months period where you're trained for combat, wilderness survival, tactics and learn how to handle the dungeon, as well as the internal security of our home base."

Putting a fist on her hips, the lady explained further, "We don't need to test you, you'll be provided food, lodging and a monthly stipend of 10 000 Valis."

Adrestia whistled at those terms. Bell wanted to know the catch and so asked, "Those are really good terms, Miss! But why us?"

Her red eyes pierced him, making Bell step back. "Because your sister is a Mage and from the way I can see you move and stand, I know that you're trained. And your sister, she knows me. I can't afford to let her spread my original identity.”

This sounded like a threat to Bell, he understood that whatever Adrestia knew about that woman, it made them unable to enter the city freely.

This was the first time that Bell thought that Adrestia was in over her head. “Indeed I do, but I still don’t understand how come you’re here Miss Lockh-”

She was interrupted by the lady. “Call me Seven, that’s what I go by in Orario.”

Now that he had a name to put on the beautiful face, Bell could stop calling her the 'lady' in his mind. Adrestia frowned as if something bothered her. "Like the number?"

"Seven, yes." Miss Seven nodded.

Adrestia pointed at herself. “Oh very well, let me introduce myself. I am Adrestia and this miscreant is my twin brother, Bell.” Then at her brother behind her.

A glint shone in Miss Seven’s eyes as she looked at Bell and Adrestia. “Huh, so this is the change that happened in this setting, I see. You're not born apart, but together.”

She shrugged and said, “Come on, let’s go to the Vesta District, I will explain everything in the restaurant there.”

Adrestia turned to Bell. “Let’s follow her Bell.”

“Are you sure, Adi?” Bell wasn't so sure about how much he could trust the woman. 

She caught his left arm. “Yeah let’s go.”

“Okay.” Then she pulled him toward the fully loaded carriage.

Sitting on the coach's seat was yet again another beautiful woman with gem-like blue eyes and purple hair, wearing an elegant purple-black Far Eastern dress. She smiled at him and Bell was sure that this time he would really be blessed! 

*Grandfather, you were right! Orario has all the beauties!* Bell declared in his heart.

---

A/N: So, as you can see, Tifa can access an interface (The Codex of Samsaraà which allow her to summon dead people from all over the multiverse, more precisely, people who died because their worlds was destroyed. And before you ask, yes, Cloud, Tifa and Aerith are people who lost the fight against Jenova and Sephiroth and were pulled out of the sea of souls to become agent for a Goddess who want to stop the spread of destroyed worlds because of the interference of Jumpers, reincarnators, displaced people by ROBs or natural portals.