A Nascent Kaleidoscope.

Chapter 203: Chapter 194

"I\'m not quite sure how to react." Yasaka finally spoke.

"Meridia said something similar." I chuckled.

"Yes, this Meridia too. I had thought her just a lesser goddess I did not happen to know, but I\'m guessing that\'s incorrect." She looked at me expectantly.

"Oh yes. Frankly, I would have the confidence to go into the Dimensional Gap and slap the Great Red with her at my side."

Yasaka opened her mouth and closed it again slowly. "That is another conversation for later." She seemed to push that aside for now. "And dare I ask about Artoria? I\'m assuming...." She glanced at Raikou and I could guess her thought process.

"She\'s also not from this version of Earth, but anything else I would like to have her reveal." I replied.

"And Jinn?" Yasaka asked again.

"Not much changed. She\'s from a world called Remnant, but again, it\'s her tale to tell."

Yasaka nodded in understanding. "Scáthach....." She muttered looking at my Teacher.

The God-slayer smiled happily as Yasaka turned her attention onto her. "I\'m surprised that such concepts are not widely known. Even during my era, the concept of Parallel Worlds was not something untouchable. Perhaps it was more ambiguous in understanding, but still known regardless."

"I\'ve only heard of the idea from human sciences and their theories." Yasaka shook her head. "If it is known, then it\'s kept at the highest level of secrecy among the more powerful."

"I doubt it\'s a completely unknown idea." I interjected. "It\'s how scrying the future works, or other variations of such. Looking at many possibilities along other World-Lines."

Yasaka tilted her head, slowly adopting a look of contemplation. "That makes sense now that I have more context." She let out a sigh. "But I believe such things are beyond my pay grade." She then turned her attention to my other companion. "And Minamoto-no-Raikou." Yasaka was....stiff when addressing her. "Are you uncomfortable with me?"

Raikou blinked for a moment. "Am I uncomfortable with you?" She didn\'t seem to understand.

"The.....version of you from this world." She appeared to be careful with her phrasing. "It was a little bit before my time, but my mother told me some stories on how she used to clash with him." Yasaka pursed her lips. "He left a scar on her that never healed. She told me he was a very arrogant and headstrong man, unwilling to compromise with my kind on nearly any issue. He despised Youkai for reasons I do not know."

Raikou bit her lip. "I have no problems with Youkai. I have known many in my life."

I reached over and squeezed her hand, earning a small smile from my Servant. I knew she had a hard life and reminiscing about certain things made her depressed.

"Okay." Yasaka said simply.

"You are accepting my words as fact?" Raikou seemed surprised. Her \'nature\' was being questioned, and that was perhaps her more sore spot.

"I trust Wilhelm." She replied. "I have no doubt in my mind he would not bring someone around my Daughter that he thought they would harm her. By association I can assume you are not the same person as my Mother described in her stories."

Raikou usually hated being addressed by other people, like they were so insignificant in her eyes that they didn\'t matter. From what I could tell, it wasn\'t some sort of superior complex she had, but a genuine uncaringness for anyone else.

And here she was looking ....happy.

Now that I think about it, she was happy too when Jeanne dismissed her concerns over her Oni side. I guess she also had her own hang ups about her origin.

"I have another question." Yasaka decided to speak up again. "Your Grandfather –"

"Yes, that was my home world." I replied, knowing what she was going to ask.

Yasaka let out a little cute laugh. "You were so worried you took my Kunou to an entirely different world?"

"I panicked." I huffed. "I knew my Grandfather would take good care of her.

"That\'s adorable." Scáthach went to pinch my cheek with a little laugh as I took the abuse. "My little student, all grown up."

"Oh my, I didn\'t even think to ask. You were the one who trained him?" Yasaka inquired.

"Yes, he sought me out in the Land of Shadows and asked me to take him as my student." Scáthach had a gentle smile on her face as she reminisced. "What wonderful days those were. It was quite fun to thoroughly beat some sense into him." She slipped into a slight smirk as she eyed me. "But he grew into a good man."

"Oh Master, you\'re blushing." Raikou pointed out with a mischievous smile. Something I didn\'t think she was capable of in this state. Though I guess it was her focusing on me more so than the others.

I groaned, letting my head fall to the table. "I knew letting you all meet would be a bad idea."

"I believe this is the perfect moment for some stories when he was under my tutelage." Scáthach had that tone in her voice, the one that I remembered when she wanted to mess with me. "I recall the first time I had him on the ground, my foot on his chest. Can you guess what his words were?"

"Neaaahhhh!" let out a sound I didn\'t know I could make as I tried to silence her

She just laughed, holding me back.

***

There was a good while of them talking, basically \'around\' me, but I didn\'t fault them for that. They were.....getting to know one another for lack of a better term. Raikou was still sort of outside the conversation, merely paying attention when I was involved. And I\'m really hoping Gramps is done with the \'issue\' soon.

And I\'ll definitely have to properly thank him when it\'s done.

Yeah, and some of my more embarrassing stories being told by Scáthach to Yasaka, who of course will never let me live them down.

Oh well.

I wouldn\'t mind the teasing if it meant they bonded over it.

But I will find Scáthach\'s weakness and exploit it ruthlessly.

Unfortunately, I did have a matter to bring up, disrupting their idle chatting. "I forgot about a semi-important matter before." I interjected. "And this isn\'t an attempt to shift the subject."

\'I don\'t believe you, but continue." Yasaka replied without missing a beat.

"So, Scáthach and Raikou aren\'t the only ones here." Probably should have led with this....but I was distracted.

Yasaka blinked. "A more thorough explanation, please."

"Ah, well." I scratched my cheek. "Mordred is here, checking out the area. As are Achilles, and Atalanta....and Jack the Ripper."

"Wilhelm." Yasaka\'s tone turned dry. "Did you say you just released a serial killer unto my city. One whom I am even aware of as a –technically— reclusive Fox Spirit that lives on the complete opposite side of the world and doesn\'t interact much with human society outside of my immediate vicinity."

"Um.....spot me here, sweetie?" I turned to Scáthach.

She gently reached her hand up and pattedmy cheek. "Dig yourself out of your own hole, \'sweetie\'." She repeated with a little sarcasm in her tone.

"Raikou?"

"I wished to remove the conglomeration of specters at our first meeting, Master."

"Want to try again?" Yasaka raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." I sighed. "Alright, so it\'s more like – A big group of ghosts all pushed together into a vessel that could be called Jack the Ripper, but not actually Jack the Ripper because their identity was never known. So more like the \'idea\' behind their legend, if that makes sense."

Yasaka looked thoughtful. "I can understand the gist of what you\'re saying. But I follow up with, why did you bring them to my city?"

"Um, its\' actually a little girl that wants to live quietly with their mom?" I offered.

"...I hesitantly accept this explanation for now." Yasaka sighed. "But, perhaps I\'m not the best person to host such a.....creature."

"Well, if you don\'t\' want them around, I can find somewhere else to set them up. They just wanted a quiet place to live without disrupting normal humans."

"No, no." She waived off my response. "I meant; I believe there is someone better." She clarified. "You are aware I rule only over of Japan\'s Youkai, yes?" She asked, though it was more rhetorical, so she continued. "Well, I guess there are technically some autonomous clans still up and about, but more or less, I rule over half of Japan\'s Youkai. And on the other end there\'s that old man who deals with many more....aggressive Youkai, Ghosts, and demons. Honestly, I think he just likes taking in the trouble makers. It\'s probably why most Oni clans tend to migrate towards his territory."

"Oni." Raikou perked up, now paying rapt attention.

Yasaka paused. "Yes, though they don\'t get up to much trouble like in the past. That old man keeps everything.....contained these days."

Well, it\'s obvious Yasaka caught on to Raikou\'s.....situation, even if she probably didn\'t know the details.

"Nurarihyon, huh?" I rubbed my chin.

"Nurarihyon!?" Raikou\'s eyes shot open.

"Do you know him?" Yasaka asked in confusion. "I did not think he was....that old? I remember he was around during my Mother\'s later years, but I hadn\'t heard anything before that."

Raikou shook her head. "I had several run ins with that....man." She huffed. "And he doesn\'t have an age. His ability to go undetected isn\'t constrained to living beings. He was able to slip out of the perception of the Time-Line if he wished. Such there is no point of speaking about age when he could be unperceivable to the passing of the years as well."

Well, isn\'t that a frightening thought. Sounds more like a True Ancestor than a mere Youkai.

Yasaka blinked at that. "That sounds very different than the one I am used to. As strong as he is, I don\'t believe he\'s capable of a feat like that. Honestly, I don\'t think most Gods are capable of messing around with Time unless it lays within their domain."

"Yes, Wilhelm informed us that the deities of this world are...weaker than the ones we\'re used to." Scáthach spoke up. "If I had to guess, I would say their natures are different enough that they are not allowed certain permissions to the world\'s underlining concepts as custodians."

"That was my initial thought. The trade off being their sustainability away from the World\'s control." I nodded along.

"I\'m lost, but I fear I don\'t want to know." Yasaka commented. "Going back on topic, these people you have running around my territory?"

"Oh, yeah. Well, my House is connected to several different Worlds, and they seemed like a bunch that wouldn\'t mind getting their hands dirty – minus Jack the Ripper – so....if you have some monsters or strays that need killed...?"

Yasaka seemed surprised. "Actually...that would be helpful. There had been an influx of Stray Devils, roaming Youkai and other unsavory elements popping up after what happened before."

"So, in the immediate time frame, I just wanted to set them up with homes somewhere. I have the money to pay and everything, but I felt it appropriate to wait for your blessing due to their.....status and strength."

"I appreciate the thought." Yasaka smiled. "And while their identities could be potentially politically hazardous, I do believe their presence may outweigh any negatives." She reassured me. "I have some properties here or there that are unoccupied. I\'ll have someone fetch the documents for them."

"Thank you." I replied with sincerity.

"Oh, think nothing of it." Her tails swayed happily. "I can do something this easy for the father of my daughter without a second thought." She grinned watching both Scáthach\'s and Raikou\'s reactions. The mischievous fox. "Speaking of our Daughter."

As if right on que, the door opened and a little kitsune walked in. I turned to look, and she appeared just as surprised to see me as I was her.

"Daddy!" She shouted, rocketing towards me.

I was already out of my seat, sweeping her up in my arms. "My little fox." I hugged her tight.

"Always going straight for daddy." Yasaka giggled, still seated.

Kunou finally pulled away, but still tugged on my shirt as she pulled me towards Yasaka. "Mooom! Why didn\'t you tell me dad was back." She whined.

"I just found out earlier, sweetie." She lightly poked her daughter on the nose. "And behave, we have guests."

Kunou blinked, looking around as her eyes landed on my companions. She looked a little sheepish as she tucked her head down a little. "Hi, I\'m Kunou." She said quietly.

Scáthach stood up, walking the few steps over before lowering herself down to Kunou\'s eye level. "Hello, little one." My teacher was astonishingly gentle as she introduced herself to my daughter. Now that I think about it, I had never seen her interact with children before, so this was entirely new ground I was treading.

"A-are you another one of my Aunties?" She hesitantly asked, seemingly accepting the idea quite easily.

Scáthach eyed me for a moment before looking back down at Kunou. "Yes. Yes I am." She smiled warmly towards her new niece. "And I look forward to spending more time with you."

"How did you meet dad?" Kunou asked.

"Your father came to me for training a few years ago." She smiled wistfully. "And for reasons I still don\'t understand, he wanted to take an old witch like me as his women."

"Auntie, you aren\'t old." Kunou puffed up. "You\'re still so pretty, like mom."

"Fufu." Scáthach gently patted her head. "You are just adorable. You may call me Scáthach – or Auntie if you prefer." She stated with obvious amusement in her voice.

"Should I be taking that as a compliment, or should you?" Yasaka mused, wrapping up Kunou from behind.

Raikou slowly stood up from her seat and also came over, which earned Kunou\'s attention as she escaped from her mom\'s grasp.

Raikou didn\'t speak, opting to bite her lip like she didn\'t know what to say.

{Need help?} I asked through the mental link.

{Master has a daughter....I don\'t know what to do. Am I supposed to introduce myself? Is it okay for me to hug her? Do I have her call me grandmother?} Her thoughts were a little frantic.

I decided to help her out. "Kunou." I grabbed her attention. "I\'d like to introduce you to Raikou." I gestured towards my Servant who was awkwardly shifting in the spot she was standing. "My mom."

The look on Raikou\'s face when I said that I honestly thought she was going to start crying.

Even when she assumed the \'role\' of my \'mother\' upon her summoning, I never really.... acknowledge it. It felt weird to say, but it was simple words for me, and even in her madness, it seemed like a big thing for her.

So why not?

I have no idea what\'s going to happen once we \'fixed\' her for lack of a better word, but in this moment, I can\'t say I\'ve ever seen her happier since we\'ve met.

Raikou basically swept up little Kunou into her bosom. "Such a cute girl." Raikou cooed. "My granddaughter is so sweet!"

Well, that was easy enough for her to accept the relationship. I have no idea what mental gymnastics she went through when she was having trouble even speaking to Kunou a moment before.

I shared a look with Yasaka, just shrugging with a \'what can I do\' expression.

"Any interest in training the young las?" Scáthach asked. "I admit, her natural physique does pique my interest."

Raikou harumphed. "My sweet granddaughter doesn\'t need lessons from such a brute. If she wishes to learn to fight, I can teach her my clan\'s techniques."

"Brute?" Scáthach scowled. "Perhaps we should settle with this a spar."

"How surprising that you wish to resort to violence." Raikou\'s sarcastic tone was obvious to all that could hear.

Funnily enough, it seemed like this didn\'t even faze Kunou who was watching them with unrestrained interest.

I turned towards Yasaka who looked at me and let out a sigh with a smile on her face. I couldn\'t help but chuckle at their antics.

My smile only grew when I felt a fluffy appendage wrap around my waist.

***

Raikou and Scáthach meet the little fox. Sorry for the late chapter, i took a nap and accidently set my alarm to AM instead of PM.

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