Post by Ninmast on Mar 10, 2012 23:19:32 GMT -5
Name: Abigaile "Abby" Tohru
Age:
Phase 1: 15
Phase 2: 15, looks more like 4
Phase 3: About 1,800 - 1,900 years old, but looks about 20. Her cover requires her to state her age at closer to 2,000. (Demons in that setting age at roughly 1/100 the rate of humans)
Gender: Female
Race:
Phase 1: Human (Fused with Nekomata)
Phase 2: Nekomata Unpure (Tensen Nyan-Nyan subspecies)
Phase 3: Nekomata Turned (Officially considered by birth, as records of pre-adoption parents are not present)
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Power Level:
Phase 1: High-tier Low (PL3) to Low-tier Medium (PL4)
Phase 2: Mid-tier Medium (PL5) with substantial drawbacks
Phase 3: Mid-tier High (PL8) but would likely be limited for safety reasons before being sent into a "mortal" world on a mission if the DM so desires.
Timeline:
Phase 1: Modern Japan (Earth)
Phase 2: Feudal Japan (Inner Heaven, Otherworld counterpart to Japan)
Phase 3: Quasi-Industrial Europe (Greater Eden, Otherworld counterpart to Europe)
Appearance:
Phase 1:
Only standing about four and a quarter feet tall, Abigaile is nonetheless nicely shaped for her size. Formerly 5' 7" and a stick of a track star, the reduction in size seemed at least tastefully executed, or perhaps it was just reshaped to resemble the nekomata's. She would never know. She is pretty much always seen in her school uniform, which fits her well due to the necessary special tailoring her dimensions required. This is a fairly standard Japanese school uniform, with red skirt, white blouse, red neckerchief, white thigh-socks and black shoes. An article of clothing that is always present, despite the usual rule against hats, she wears an oversized beret. She possesses a somewhat tanned complexion, golden-yellow eyes and dirty-blonde hair, with slightly darker hair on her ears, but possesses no tails. Alternately, after going to Otherworld, she abandons the beret and wears a red kimono cut short to make movement easier. After complaints that she moved too quietly and was always giving people heart attacks when she popped out of nowhere, a friend convinced her to wear a bell choker that is on her at all times now and has become rather signature for her. It jingles in particular when she makes any sudden movements like hopping up and down.
Phase 2:
Reduced to a mere two feet in height and the corresponding body of a young child, her general characteristics are still much like those of her previous form, with page boy cut dirty blonde hair, yellow eyes and a slightly tanned complexion. She wears a red traditional style kimono with a pink band and has a golden fish, a necklace for someone much larger, hanging as an accessory from the band. She no longer feels compelled to hide her ears, but also has more pronounced fangs than her previous form, though they weren't entirely normal then either. She keeps on her person at all times (usually up one of her baggy sleeves, where she seems practiced at storing things) the kunai gifted to her by Michelle Fae'on, her adoptive mother. Due to her extremely small size, she wields it more like a short sword, and moves about more frequently by floating rather than going about on foot. Unlike her previous form, this "Chibi Abby" sports a set of twin tails the same color as her ears.
Phase 3:
The centuries have seen Abigaile grow from a short cutey to a supermodel goddess, courtesy of the work ages prior by Dr. Cillian Devine, a "body-shaper," rather like the demonic equivalent of a plastic surgeon. Growing up from the childhood form prior, she did, actually, pass through an age where she looked as she once did, but went on to fill into the image constructed right into her genes by the good doctor. Standing once more at just over five and a half feet tall, a quite respectable height for an Asian without being super-tall, her form is ideal made reality. She is still recognizable as Abigaile, of course, with facial features and a general build that look rather like an older, more Aphroditic version of the younger girl, where the rest of her body had finally caught up with her ... ah ... bells. Though Devine's original work did not possess tails (they had never been a trait she had been personally fond of), growing up into it from her child form has retained them now. As a result, despite attire being at least a closer approximation of modern tastes (a quarter of a millennium after what we know of as modern), she still wears skirts and dresses rather than pants, finding accommodating her tails is too great a hassle otherwise. Her hair has grown out and is worn in a long priestess braid, while her clothes seem quite casual, consisting of a knee-length skirt, a blouse and a half-jacket. She wears the replacement to her old kunai, a dagger, in a shoulder sheath underneath her left arm, hidden inside her jacket.
Personality:
Phase 1:
Abby can be shy around new people, unsure how to act around them, and is particularly touchy in response to comments about her ears or her height. This rarely lasts long, however, and around accepting people, her more accurate personality arises. She becomes energetic, friendly and prone to popping up from the last direction expected. She's a romantic and enjoys playing matchmaker, but furthermore always insists on seeing the good in others regardless of how deeply it may be hidden.
Phase 2:
Pretty much the same as she was before, the most obvious differentiation is in Chibi Abby's simplicity. Though the general nature is all there, Chibi Abby sees things in the much simpler, straighter shades of a child, lending her a natural innocence, brevity and inductive mindset that makes all children seem both atypically insightful and amusingly charming. Cracks about her height now bother her more than ever, but she has gained a new vulnerability and is easily bribed with sweets, particularly lolipops.
Phase 3:
By far the most mature of her three forms, Abigaile presents a demeanor to Greater Eden of a dedicated healer, despite her record-breaking abilities. Despite the insistence of some, she refuses to enlist in the Greater Eden military, despite how she could have any post in it she wanted, and claims pacifism as the reason. Her skills have only improved over time, however, and the truth of the matter is that she is still loyal to Inner Heaven. Her moods are more tempered now and she isn't nearly so rapid-squirrel-sugar-high as she used to be. She is fond of all of the friends she has made over the centuries and holds them close to her heart, keeping up to date on them regularly.
History:
Phase 1:
Phase 2:
Phase 3:
Powers:
For simplicity, only the strongest examples of each phase will be listed. Each phase possesses everything listed for every phase before it, as well as variations of power between them and usually other minor tricks or techniques.
All forms have the innate passive ability to repel incoming attempts against her mind or nervous system. Any technique or spell targeting her attempting to charm, paralyze, tranquilize, put to sleep, etc. will not only not have any effect on her, but be redirected back to the caster automatically. Abigaile is not even aware that an attempt to do so has been made against her. More mundane attempts (such as tranquilizer darts or sleeping gas) function as normal, minus changes in dosage required based on the fortitude of the form.
Phase 1:
Garu - A light air-elemented magic attack that strikes a single target with swirling, slicing winds.
Zan - A light nonelemental magic attack. It is more draining to use than her Garu, but ignores elemental resistances.
Dia - A light recovery magic that heals small injuries.
Scratch - Her nails briefly become claws to allow her to strike at an enemy.
Phase 2:
Maha Garu - A wide-dispersal, light air-elemented magic attack that can strike multiple targets with swirling, slicing winds.
Garula - A single-target wind attack that is significantly more powerful than a Garu-level spell.
Dia - A general healing spell that recovers the target using energies from the user. While not a powerfully advanced spell, its general nature makes it useful for nearly any kind of injury, and Abby has become magically powerful enough to be able to use it to heal almost anything if she can spare a few moments of complete concentration on the target. The more serious the injury, the more time (effectively, the more castings) it requires.
Zanma - A potent almighty spell unleashed on a single target. It is more draining to use than her wind techniques.
Flash Step - Demon magic that allows the user to move at incredibly high speeds for short periods of time. As a lower-end user, Chibi Abby is not as fast as a more experienced user of the technique and has to take time to gather the large amounts of energy required.
Kaiken - Demon magic that forms a barrier to protect from incoming damage.
Double - Demon magic that creates a fake double to fool the opponent. The double can't act or move in any way. It is stuck in whatever position the user was in when it was used. It can be charged with energy that is discharged like a mine when struck.
Phase 3:
Magarudyne - An incredibly powerful wind attack that strikes all of Abigaile's enemies at once with slicing, razor-sharp winds
Megidolaon - A massive attack of nonelemental energy that bypasses elemental resistances, but is similarly draining. Nevertheless, it is, for all intents and purposes, virtually a small-scale nuclear detonation without the fallout. Abigaile won't use it for this reason unless there is nothing but enemies around her to avoid friendly fire.
Tempest Slash - It took her two thousand years, but Abby's good ol' Scratch has finally improved. This melee slashing attack does far larger damage than its original counterpart, and she's fast enough to get both hands in for it for a double hit.
Samarecarm - Abigaile's healing abilities have expanded through time and practice. She can now completely heal someone even if they have just been "killed." If she waits too long, however, the spirit moves on and this ability no longer has any effect.
Flash Step - She is now effectively an expert at the technique, able to get the most out of the technique and no longer requiring a charge time before use.
Equipment:
Phase 1:
None
Phase 2:
A single kunai given to her by Michelle Fae'on that she keeps up her sleeve. Given her new size, she wields it like a short sword.
Phase 3:
Her old Kunai is retired as a treasured belonging, as her cover required her to adopt a similar European weapon, the dagger, stored in a shoulder sheath under her left arm.
Weakness:
Phase 1:
Very nearly a normal human in terms of durability and less so in brute strength, though she is almost supernaturally agile.
Phase 2:
Easily kicked around and unable to deal heavy amounts of physical damage for her power level due to her extremely small form. Her short legs also prevent her from running very quickly, though she can levitate to make up for it. Reduced as her mental state has been, she is extremely easy to bribe or distract with sweets such as candy or chocolate.
Phase 3:
Despite having her speed and agility as her greatest physical attributes, without Flash Step, she's slower than other people of her power level and has a comparably narrow ability selection, making her somewhat predictable.
Age:
Phase 1: 15
Phase 2: 15, looks more like 4
Phase 3: About 1,800 - 1,900 years old, but looks about 20. Her cover requires her to state her age at closer to 2,000. (Demons in that setting age at roughly 1/100 the rate of humans)
Gender: Female
Race:
Phase 1: Human (Fused with Nekomata)
Phase 2: Nekomata Unpure (Tensen Nyan-Nyan subspecies)
Phase 3: Nekomata Turned (Officially considered by birth, as records of pre-adoption parents are not present)
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Power Level:
Phase 1: High-tier Low (PL3) to Low-tier Medium (PL4)
Phase 2: Mid-tier Medium (PL5) with substantial drawbacks
Phase 3: Mid-tier High (PL8) but would likely be limited for safety reasons before being sent into a "mortal" world on a mission if the DM so desires.
Timeline:
Phase 1: Modern Japan (Earth)
Phase 2: Feudal Japan (Inner Heaven, Otherworld counterpart to Japan)
Phase 3: Quasi-Industrial Europe (Greater Eden, Otherworld counterpart to Europe)
Appearance:
Phase 1:
Only standing about four and a quarter feet tall, Abigaile is nonetheless nicely shaped for her size. Formerly 5' 7" and a stick of a track star, the reduction in size seemed at least tastefully executed, or perhaps it was just reshaped to resemble the nekomata's. She would never know. She is pretty much always seen in her school uniform, which fits her well due to the necessary special tailoring her dimensions required. This is a fairly standard Japanese school uniform, with red skirt, white blouse, red neckerchief, white thigh-socks and black shoes. An article of clothing that is always present, despite the usual rule against hats, she wears an oversized beret. She possesses a somewhat tanned complexion, golden-yellow eyes and dirty-blonde hair, with slightly darker hair on her ears, but possesses no tails. Alternately, after going to Otherworld, she abandons the beret and wears a red kimono cut short to make movement easier. After complaints that she moved too quietly and was always giving people heart attacks when she popped out of nowhere, a friend convinced her to wear a bell choker that is on her at all times now and has become rather signature for her. It jingles in particular when she makes any sudden movements like hopping up and down.
Phase 2:
Reduced to a mere two feet in height and the corresponding body of a young child, her general characteristics are still much like those of her previous form, with page boy cut dirty blonde hair, yellow eyes and a slightly tanned complexion. She wears a red traditional style kimono with a pink band and has a golden fish, a necklace for someone much larger, hanging as an accessory from the band. She no longer feels compelled to hide her ears, but also has more pronounced fangs than her previous form, though they weren't entirely normal then either. She keeps on her person at all times (usually up one of her baggy sleeves, where she seems practiced at storing things) the kunai gifted to her by Michelle Fae'on, her adoptive mother. Due to her extremely small size, she wields it more like a short sword, and moves about more frequently by floating rather than going about on foot. Unlike her previous form, this "Chibi Abby" sports a set of twin tails the same color as her ears.
Phase 3:
The centuries have seen Abigaile grow from a short cutey to a supermodel goddess, courtesy of the work ages prior by Dr. Cillian Devine, a "body-shaper," rather like the demonic equivalent of a plastic surgeon. Growing up from the childhood form prior, she did, actually, pass through an age where she looked as she once did, but went on to fill into the image constructed right into her genes by the good doctor. Standing once more at just over five and a half feet tall, a quite respectable height for an Asian without being super-tall, her form is ideal made reality. She is still recognizable as Abigaile, of course, with facial features and a general build that look rather like an older, more Aphroditic version of the younger girl, where the rest of her body had finally caught up with her ... ah ... bells. Though Devine's original work did not possess tails (they had never been a trait she had been personally fond of), growing up into it from her child form has retained them now. As a result, despite attire being at least a closer approximation of modern tastes (a quarter of a millennium after what we know of as modern), she still wears skirts and dresses rather than pants, finding accommodating her tails is too great a hassle otherwise. Her hair has grown out and is worn in a long priestess braid, while her clothes seem quite casual, consisting of a knee-length skirt, a blouse and a half-jacket. She wears the replacement to her old kunai, a dagger, in a shoulder sheath underneath her left arm, hidden inside her jacket.
Personality:
Phase 1:
Abby can be shy around new people, unsure how to act around them, and is particularly touchy in response to comments about her ears or her height. This rarely lasts long, however, and around accepting people, her more accurate personality arises. She becomes energetic, friendly and prone to popping up from the last direction expected. She's a romantic and enjoys playing matchmaker, but furthermore always insists on seeing the good in others regardless of how deeply it may be hidden.
Phase 2:
Pretty much the same as she was before, the most obvious differentiation is in Chibi Abby's simplicity. Though the general nature is all there, Chibi Abby sees things in the much simpler, straighter shades of a child, lending her a natural innocence, brevity and inductive mindset that makes all children seem both atypically insightful and amusingly charming. Cracks about her height now bother her more than ever, but she has gained a new vulnerability and is easily bribed with sweets, particularly lolipops.
Phase 3:
By far the most mature of her three forms, Abigaile presents a demeanor to Greater Eden of a dedicated healer, despite her record-breaking abilities. Despite the insistence of some, she refuses to enlist in the Greater Eden military, despite how she could have any post in it she wanted, and claims pacifism as the reason. Her skills have only improved over time, however, and the truth of the matter is that she is still loyal to Inner Heaven. Her moods are more tempered now and she isn't nearly so rapid-squirrel-sugar-high as she used to be. She is fond of all of the friends she has made over the centuries and holds them close to her heart, keeping up to date on them regularly.
History:
Phase 1:
Abby used to be pretty much a valley girl, and to be honest, she still has her moments. Over the summer, however, something happened. When she was assaulted by several people, she tried to fight them off of her with everything she had, but they outnumbered her and were older and stronger than her. When she thought she was broken, however, she rebelled against her own body. It refused to go any further, but she refused to let it stop. In that moment, when her will to fight back overpowered her body’s inability to respond, something in her subconscious split. She swore she was the one moving as she jumped up, lunged at her attackers as they suddenly looked terrified, and tore at their throats. She swore she was doing it as she ripped flesh from their chests and kicked them away to send them spiraling to the ground before they ran off.
But when she looked back, she was still laying on the ground, doubled over a tipped trash can.
It was difficult for her to recall what transpired after that, and the only thing she really could recall was waking up in the hospital. Her parents were looking down at her with worry in their eyes, but only for a moment. She only saw it for an instant before another expression registered on their faces, and it was the same one her attackers had before they fled. Her father swore and her mother gasped, but when she asked what it was, they refused to tell her, insisting that she rest. They told her she just had one monstrous black eye, and they hadn’t noticed until she opened it. But she felt fine ... Exhausted, like she had just crammed five major finals into one day, but fine, not like she had been ganged up on and beaten ...
Generally speaking, Abby lost thirty percent of her body mass, shrunk sixteen inches and lost nearly fourty-five pounds. But this didn’t confuse her parents and doctors as much as a few other things. Her features had changed, becoming more catlike. It wasn’t until she found out what had happened to her that she understoood it wasn’t a cat, specifically, but her Nekomata. Unlike a Persona User, where the human and the Persona were more or less seperate, she had “screwed up” in the summoning, and Nekomata consumed her. Where the two-tailed catgirl ghost had once been a facet of her personality, it now might as well have been her, entirely.
Formerly a track lover in middle school, she believed her dreams of becoming a track star in high school and maybe even riding it to college were trashed by her transformation, and she was transferred to a private school that, as she would find out, specialized in rather similar young adults.
But when she looked back, she was still laying on the ground, doubled over a tipped trash can.
It was difficult for her to recall what transpired after that, and the only thing she really could recall was waking up in the hospital. Her parents were looking down at her with worry in their eyes, but only for a moment. She only saw it for an instant before another expression registered on their faces, and it was the same one her attackers had before they fled. Her father swore and her mother gasped, but when she asked what it was, they refused to tell her, insisting that she rest. They told her she just had one monstrous black eye, and they hadn’t noticed until she opened it. But she felt fine ... Exhausted, like she had just crammed five major finals into one day, but fine, not like she had been ganged up on and beaten ...
Generally speaking, Abby lost thirty percent of her body mass, shrunk sixteen inches and lost nearly fourty-five pounds. But this didn’t confuse her parents and doctors as much as a few other things. Her features had changed, becoming more catlike. It wasn’t until she found out what had happened to her that she understoood it wasn’t a cat, specifically, but her Nekomata. Unlike a Persona User, where the human and the Persona were more or less seperate, she had “screwed up” in the summoning, and Nekomata consumed her. Where the two-tailed catgirl ghost had once been a facet of her personality, it now might as well have been her, entirely.
Formerly a track lover in middle school, she believed her dreams of becoming a track star in high school and maybe even riding it to college were trashed by her transformation, and she was transferred to a private school that, as she would find out, specialized in rather similar young adults.
Phase 2:
As her time at the school passed, she encountered a student named Kaizen, a member of the student disciplinary committee generally called by most the Enforcers. In a short while, they became close and he revealed to her that he was not truly human, but rather a demon bound to a human body. Feeling used as a weapon by the Headmaster, he announced his intention to return to his own realm. Abby was determined not to be separated from him, however, and in exchange for her aid, she made him promise to take her with him.
Otherworld was to be a dangerous place, however. Told that the only way into Inner City, the capitol and, to Kaizen's knowledge, only fortified place of civilization, was to join and graduate its prestigious military academy, Abby was given by Kaizen a Hell Fruit, a spiritual fruit much like a bruised and mottled peach that went down like swallowing thorned worms, but would release the human limitations on her spiritual power. This would ultimately permit her to reach the levels necessary to survive in that land. One Hell Fruit turns a human into a demon (considered such, but still human in appearance, except far longer-living and without mortal limits on their spiritual energy), but if a demon were to consume a Hell Fruit, they would become an Unpure, inhuman creatures that feed off of the spiritual energy of others. This is an incomplete definition, of course, as there are Unpure that retain sentience, such as Nekomata, which Abigaile would pass as.
Unfortunately, only so many applicants are permitted each test period, and there was not room for her when they arrived. Of the two testing types, written and physical, only a slot in the physical exams remained. Knowing that she was not yet strong enough to test physically and needed time to study for a written entrance exam, anyway, Abigaile opted to wait until the next testing period. While Kaizen, now going by the name of Tadashi, took and blew away the physical examination (acting undercover as he was to avoid explaining to the city his past identity), Abigaile set out to explore Outer City, the ramshackle and semi-transient village that surrounded Inner Heaven.
After fleeing from an angry merchant who mistook her for a thief because she was a Nekomata, Abigaile met Tabetha, and then Michelle, two other Nekomata who had lived in the city for centuries. Tabetha was actually Michelle's mother, despite only looking perhaps a few years older as a result of the rate of demonic aging. Michelle was a retired officer of the Inner Heaven military and took it upon herself to teach the girl so she could get into the academy, training her body in combat and demon magic and instructing her mind in that which she would need to know. So thorough was the woman's tutelage that Abigaile actually easily made it into the Advanced classes, much to Tadashi's surprise, and like him, performed so exceptionally as to graduate early, completing the Academy in months instead of years and being accepted to the Third Division, the one out of the nine divisions of the Inner Heaven military that was dedicated to medical treatment.
It was during her closing days in the Academy, however, that a friend from the human school found her way over and acquired a Hell Fruit of her own. By accident, Abby ended up consuming the fruit's core and was transmogrified for the second time in her life, being reduced both physically and mentally into the form of a nekomata child. The advantage was that her spiritual energy, previously divided between both physical ability and magical ability, was forced almost exclusively into magical power, albeit at the cost of essentially all physical capability.
Handicapped as she was, she sought out alterationists to correct this form, but it took some time to find one that would do the work, most not even believing she was anything more than the child she appeared to be. Eventually, she found the office of Dr. Cillian Devine, an incubus alterationist reknown for his remarkable work. He agreed to do the job and in one morning, he remodeled her into a work of art.
With her abilities, strange even by the standards of the demons, she rose quickly through the ranks in the Third Division, eventually surpassing even Tadashi's rank (he was put into the role of Second Lieutenant immediately out of the academy) by the time an envoy from Greater Eden reached the city with news of the former's existence. When she had first been selected from the academy, however, Michelle had approached her with a revelation and an offer. She was the head of the Tenth, a secret division existing outside of the other nine dedicated to intelligence, infiltration and espionage. Each member served two roles, their public one in the military and their secret one with the Tenth. She wanted Abigaile in, as well. So it was that, as one of the most proficient healers in the Third Division and a specially-trained member of the Tenth, Abigaile was selected as a member of the envoy sent back to Greater Eden to establish relations.
In a rather annoying turn of events, however, it turned out that any important building in Greater Eden had protection sigils that purged alterations to prevent impersonators from infiltrating. Their guide failing to issue warning, Abigaile found herself right back into her younger form. Though attempts were made to repeatedly put the alterations back in place, it eventually ceased to be productive with how often she had to come and go through such places. However, having mistaken her for a stray orphan, one of the Templars of Greater Eden, Mina Cyrin, in charge of their own medical branch ironically enough, had taken a shine to Chibi Abby. Given the inability to maintain the alterations and the convenience of the Templar's attachment, orders were put through that Abigaile would remain in Greater Eden as the orphan, unclaimed, and that Mina would adopt her, as the woman had a tendency to do.
Otherworld was to be a dangerous place, however. Told that the only way into Inner City, the capitol and, to Kaizen's knowledge, only fortified place of civilization, was to join and graduate its prestigious military academy, Abby was given by Kaizen a Hell Fruit, a spiritual fruit much like a bruised and mottled peach that went down like swallowing thorned worms, but would release the human limitations on her spiritual power. This would ultimately permit her to reach the levels necessary to survive in that land. One Hell Fruit turns a human into a demon (considered such, but still human in appearance, except far longer-living and without mortal limits on their spiritual energy), but if a demon were to consume a Hell Fruit, they would become an Unpure, inhuman creatures that feed off of the spiritual energy of others. This is an incomplete definition, of course, as there are Unpure that retain sentience, such as Nekomata, which Abigaile would pass as.
Unfortunately, only so many applicants are permitted each test period, and there was not room for her when they arrived. Of the two testing types, written and physical, only a slot in the physical exams remained. Knowing that she was not yet strong enough to test physically and needed time to study for a written entrance exam, anyway, Abigaile opted to wait until the next testing period. While Kaizen, now going by the name of Tadashi, took and blew away the physical examination (acting undercover as he was to avoid explaining to the city his past identity), Abigaile set out to explore Outer City, the ramshackle and semi-transient village that surrounded Inner Heaven.
After fleeing from an angry merchant who mistook her for a thief because she was a Nekomata, Abigaile met Tabetha, and then Michelle, two other Nekomata who had lived in the city for centuries. Tabetha was actually Michelle's mother, despite only looking perhaps a few years older as a result of the rate of demonic aging. Michelle was a retired officer of the Inner Heaven military and took it upon herself to teach the girl so she could get into the academy, training her body in combat and demon magic and instructing her mind in that which she would need to know. So thorough was the woman's tutelage that Abigaile actually easily made it into the Advanced classes, much to Tadashi's surprise, and like him, performed so exceptionally as to graduate early, completing the Academy in months instead of years and being accepted to the Third Division, the one out of the nine divisions of the Inner Heaven military that was dedicated to medical treatment.
It was during her closing days in the Academy, however, that a friend from the human school found her way over and acquired a Hell Fruit of her own. By accident, Abby ended up consuming the fruit's core and was transmogrified for the second time in her life, being reduced both physically and mentally into the form of a nekomata child. The advantage was that her spiritual energy, previously divided between both physical ability and magical ability, was forced almost exclusively into magical power, albeit at the cost of essentially all physical capability.
Handicapped as she was, she sought out alterationists to correct this form, but it took some time to find one that would do the work, most not even believing she was anything more than the child she appeared to be. Eventually, she found the office of Dr. Cillian Devine, an incubus alterationist reknown for his remarkable work. He agreed to do the job and in one morning, he remodeled her into a work of art.
With her abilities, strange even by the standards of the demons, she rose quickly through the ranks in the Third Division, eventually surpassing even Tadashi's rank (he was put into the role of Second Lieutenant immediately out of the academy) by the time an envoy from Greater Eden reached the city with news of the former's existence. When she had first been selected from the academy, however, Michelle had approached her with a revelation and an offer. She was the head of the Tenth, a secret division existing outside of the other nine dedicated to intelligence, infiltration and espionage. Each member served two roles, their public one in the military and their secret one with the Tenth. She wanted Abigaile in, as well. So it was that, as one of the most proficient healers in the Third Division and a specially-trained member of the Tenth, Abigaile was selected as a member of the envoy sent back to Greater Eden to establish relations.
In a rather annoying turn of events, however, it turned out that any important building in Greater Eden had protection sigils that purged alterations to prevent impersonators from infiltrating. Their guide failing to issue warning, Abigaile found herself right back into her younger form. Though attempts were made to repeatedly put the alterations back in place, it eventually ceased to be productive with how often she had to come and go through such places. However, having mistaken her for a stray orphan, one of the Templars of Greater Eden, Mina Cyrin, in charge of their own medical branch ironically enough, had taken a shine to Chibi Abby. Given the inability to maintain the alterations and the convenience of the Templar's attachment, orders were put through that Abigaile would remain in Greater Eden as the orphan, unclaimed, and that Mina would adopt her, as the woman had a tendency to do.
Phase 3:
It had been nearly two thousand years for her. Two millennia had passed for her in Greater Eden since arriving and being instructed to watch and learn about them from her Inner Heaven masters. That was far longer, over a hundred times longer, than she had been alive before that. She had grown up, and strong, under the caring hand of the Templar in charge of healing, Mina Cyrin.
Yes, this young woman was none other than Abigaile Tohru, having fallen out of the habit of giving her last name first after so long in a culture that did the opposite. She had changed a lot over the centuries, had grown into a young woman, but a lot about her hadn't changed, too. Dr. Cillian Devine's alteration work all that time ago was good, good enough to withstand time, good enough to alter her basic genetic destiny. Indeed, the past two millennia had seen Abigaile grow back up, but neither was it into her original human dimensions, nor was it her shorter form, though there were a couple of centuries when she greatly resembled that short and shorthaired catgirl. Now, she was virtually identical, physically, to that wonderfully goddess-like beauty the incubus had handcrafted back then. Her hair had grown out, and now hung down to the back of her calves in a priestess braid as her ever-present ears peeked out of the top on either side, and it was safe to say that she hadn't worn a kimono in some time. Another change was a secondary one. Because her child form sported her twin nekomata tails, so now did she, not that Michael had minded. It had been by his request at one point that she kept them even when the alteration was reapplied at one point before they had given up on keeping her out of a century of preschool. Because of these extra extremeties, she had found her wardrobe rather restricted growing up. Even though women wearing pants had become more acceptable in Greater Eden a little less than a thousand years ago, they would have required her to either wear inappropriately low pants or manually tailor in a hole in the back in order to accommodate the tails. One was culturally unacceptable and the other was just a huge hassle, both to add and to put the things through every time. Instead, she stuck to dresses and skirts, which was something she hadn't really minded, anyway.
The weather was nice today, just on the cusps of Summer and Fall, a slight nip to the air that enlivened but didn't chill, so she was leaning against the bridge's railings and looking out over the water of the large river that crossed through the capitol in a knee-length black skirt that was loose enough to give her tails room to swish idly beneath, a white, short-sleeved blouse top and a red half-jacket. Somewhere in the surrounding city, she could hear a radio playing. It was an old-style one, at least to her, but they were getting to be quite popular with the demons. Its staticky speakers reproduced an Italian opera, recalled by someone who had passed in the Living World and had taught it to demon performers. The long, hearty bass as the male lead belted out his longing for his darling little Nina, which probably wouldn't have actually reached ears any less talented than hers at that distance, pulled at her own heart, and she wondered for not the first time what had happened to everyone back there. Certainly, she missed Inner Heaven, too, but trade had increased between the two nation-states, even creating a dot of settlements along the road that had been established through the no longer quite so hostile barrens, and her second home, and second family, never seemed quite so far away as it did when she was younger.
Time in Otherworld, she knew, traveled far faster than it did in the Living World, about seven times as near as it was convenient to estimate. There were plenty of theories about it, the most popular involving different speeds of rotation due to some sort of planar sandwich. In this model, Otherworld was at the bottom, or perhaps core, Earth, the Living World, was the middle layer and Heaven was on top. This matched that Otherworld seemed to be significantly smaller than its mortal counterpart. Heaven, on the other hand, would by that logic be the biggest and also possess the slowest march of time, a progress that would be a snail's pace of days to Otherworld's year. Of course, by matter of course, nobody in Otherworld had ever actually been to Heaven, so it was little more than a guess based upon a slightly better supported theory backed up by popular vertical alignment mythology. Of course, these Planar-Temporal Theory lessons, as teachers throughout her schooling called them, were all but irrelevant. The fact remained that the friends and life she was thinking of took place on Earth, and while nearly two thousand years certainly hadn't passed, about two and a half centuries most certainly had. Her friends, her parents, the entire world as she knew it would be long since gone. Sure, she could spend centuries trying to track them down, but there were other things required of her, and the mass of people, both in Otherworld and coming into it, would make it a virtually impossible task. Sure, a couple of them would still be alive, those that weren't human or were no longer such. Emilie, for one, Headmaster Tailos would still be around, too, though Tekia would be his only still-living Enforcer. And then there was Tadashi, of course. Tadashi, Raizer, Kaizen ... It didn't matter what anyone said about them being different people. As far as she was concerned, they were all the same person. Unfortunately, as far as anyone knew, even the Tenth, he was still in the Human World. Given his last time he pulled that, it might very well be until the Living World had reached two thousand years before she saw him again.
The family and friends in Inner Heaven were more easily traced, mostly because she heard from them regularly now that she was out of Mina's house and could receive her own mail. Her dear Aoi-san, now her Neesan Ayaka, never did actually make it into the Academy, but still lived as Michelle's adopted daughter. She had moved out, though. A nice young man from Outer City got smitten with her a few centuries back, and her with him. They married and he supported them both with his relatively well-to-do trading business on the river. Talk of trains being looked into given the great distance between the countries worried Abby that his business would go the way of its ancestors in the Human World, but her fears were eased when she found out that he was the one behind the talks. He'd take good care of her Neesan, and the niece or nephew on the way. Yup, Ayaka was with child, and had been for the better part of the last century. Abby had delighted in letting her in on that little bit of demon physiology when the older sister had complained about entering a second decade of morning sickness and still having nothing to show for it. By now, of course, she was quite round and coming up on the end of her term. A decade or so more and, as Ayaka was fond of putting it, she'd be able to go to the bathroom less than every five minutes and could do so without waddling the whole way. At least the labor wouldn't be as long as the pregnancy.
Kazuya, on the other hand, had gotten into the Academy, and with Saleh's help, he graduated into a great position with the navy. After serving his tour of duty, he transferred to a Reserve post and went back to fishing, confident in his own ability to defend his boats. Of course, an added motivation was to help Saleh and Aphasia. Last time she heard, they practically had a small clutch of cute little mouths to feed. That mermaid could really pump out the kids, and with eggs, she didn't have to carry them around like poor Ayaka. Abby was looking forward to getting back to see them. After all, Aphasia being her double counterpart in this realm, the kids were practically her own, though she'd settle for being Auntie Abby.
Hiromi had been happy to hear from one of the two people she graduated with, but had been disappointed that Tadashi wasn't with her. Since the two were always together, the green-haired girl had held onto hope that such had stayed the case, but at the same time, she knew there was little hope in keeping track of Tadashi if he didn't want to be. Over the past centuries, however, the girl had risen until she was a First Lieutenant herself, and all indication was that she had been bringing much honor to her house. Her father was pleased, and she and Captain Ken Iori had gotten close, or as close as Ken would allow given their positions. Of course, rumor was that his best friend, Captain Hideki of the Ninth was still single after all this time. The shy man had expected to step down from the position, only for events with Greater Eden to come up, and for stability, he had kept his position.
Her own Captain, Third Captain Selina Kurita, was still healing the injured, but 36F, her old squad, still didn't have a lot of healing kido, and the healer had passed along a message that they were eager to get her back. She couldn't help but chuckle at that. When she first came through and used her Dia on all of the sick people, not knowing that they were still treated the old-fashioned way, she had cleared the entire pavilion in an hour's time. Then, the other girls had complained about having nothing to do (or rather that the cute soldiers were all gone), but once work as usual had picked back up again, they apparently missed sitting around and gossipping. They were a good bunch, though, and she was looking forward to seeing them. Selina warned her that, given that it had been so long and her nation of residence had technically changed by adoption, she may have had to apply at the Academy again. Well, that didn't bother her much. She cleared the twenty-two-year school in two weeks last time. This time, she would just take the physical test and blow through it. Literally, she amended with a grin.
That just left, last but certainly not least, her C/O in the Tenth, adopted mother in Inner Heaven and the woman to whom she gave credit for coming as far as she had, Michelle, and in turn her mother, Tabetha. They may have been mother and daughter, but as personalities went, Tabetha had always seemed the caretaker while Michelle was the disciplinarian. She could almost see Tabetha smiling over at her from in front of the stove as she cooked dinner or in front of the sink as she cleaned the dishes afterwards. Michelle, on the other hand, was difficult to picture in any other way than leaping at her from a moonlit rooftop, kunai in hand. The mental images made Abigaile sigh with longing. She missed them both.
And then there was Michael. Ah, like Abby would ever be able to forget him ... The young man chose to go back to being a kid with her and grow up alongside her. Truth be told, his head had cleared up a lot over the centuries. Nevertheless, he was still Michael, as dear as a brother and as dense as a rock. When she had had something worth accompanying it again, she had even gone back to wearing a bell around her neck on a red ribbon choker. It always seemed to keep the boy from getting sidetracked and wandering off. Instead, he'd follow that bell like a horse follows a carrot. It was sweet, which was defining him in one word.
Footsteps on the bridge pulled her out of her reverie as she realized their course by ear. They were not simply crossing the bridge, but coming toward her. "Ah, there you are, Kitty-Cat!" a young man called out snidely, as if it was intentionally both a dear nickname and a derogatory pet name at the same time.
She didn't bother looking toward him, however. She didn't have to. That told her who he was, and she needed no clarification on what he was doing or wearing. He was one of those anomalies of the demon world. Even in surroundings that could almost pass for an on-the-way-to-modern city, he exhuded the air of an Old World. And that air was thick with the kind of high-class smugness of untouchability only noble blood could grant. He was out of his armor and in his more luxurious burgandy silks, but his hand-and-a-half sword was still on his back. Frankly, she thought the blonde boy, who would be incredibly handsome if he weren't such a brat, was just overcompensating with the largest weapon he could possibly handle with one hand. She, herself, still favored the kunai, which meant she had taken to knives and daggers "growing up." She signed, knowing he wasn't going to go away. "What do you want, Gregor?"
"Same thing I always want!" he answered cheerfully as he sauntered over next to her and took her by the shoulders, leaning in close as one hand went down toward her posterior. "You, me and a nice, lonely field assignment out under the stars."
Abby's ears flattened as she scowled, her tails twitching as she brought her hand up, glowing white. "Gregor, so help me Lucifer, if you don't remove your hands this instant, stars will be all you'll see."
He gave a grin as if he was so cocksure she wouldn't dare, but he removed them all the same. "I don't get you," he admitted as he turned away and leaned against the railing. "You're a shoe-in for the military. Your power borders on freakish. You take the whole idea of what it means to be a Class S and turn it on its head. There isn't a physical test they could run you through that you wouldn't make them rewrite." He shook his head in exhasperation. "Heaven, there isn't even a wall they could put in front of you that you couldn't blow to dust. That weird Aether you do, do you have any idea how many magiscientists in Greater Eden want to figure that out? About as many as want to figure how you've been hurdles ahead of trained soldiers since you were five hundred."
Yes, actually, Abby silently reflected, she knew exactly how many, but she wasn't going to say that. "I'd guess it's got to do with me being a Turned."
But Gregor just scoffed and rolled his eyes at that. He'd heard that before and didn't buy it. "Come on, Abigaile, don't give me that line. You and I both know you're no Turned. Spirit tests showed you were clean as a whistle ages ago. As far as even you know, you were born that way. Just one more reason they'd like to put you under a microscope. You're one giant, enigmatic anomaly. Lucifer damn it, girl, you're a freak! But you're the kind of freak that the military would bow down and worship to get on their team. You could get any front-line post in the world with a word, and you'd be damn good at it."
It was a good thing for the young man that Abby knew words like that were just in his nature. He was born, bred and trained to be a tactless jackass with those of lower standing. He was also taught that outside of military ranking, everyone was of lower standing. She learned long ago, back in what constituted middle and high school for them both, to take his word choices with a couple spoonfuls of salt. "Like my mother," she answered, referring to Mina, "I am a healer, Gregor, not a fighter."
"Yeah, and we both know that's Class S Minotaur droppings, too," the nobleman fired back. "I've watched you for over five hundred years. I've seen how you respond when someone tries to surprise you, I've seen how you dealt with bullies. Heaven, girl, I've seen how you've dealt with me! And don't even bother claiming it came with the ears. That'd make you a scrapper, sure, but you're not. You're too refined." He pointed that finger at her like an accusation. "You've been trained, Abigaile. You know it and I know it. And it sure as Lucifer wasn't in Healing."
She opened her mouth to retort back, but paused and decided to take a different approach. "Gregor, think about that for a moment. If you're right and I had been trained, but am not with the military and clearly have no interest in entering the military, don't you think that would mean that maybe I didn't like what I had learned and had no interest in using it to spread pain and death?"
The nobleman scowled back at her, scorn clear in his gaze. "It is our patriotic duty to serve Greater Eden with all of our talents, Abigaile. Now, I told my commander about you today, and he's passing down instructions for a recruiter to come see you."
"That's what this is about!?" Abby raged vehemently in response, clenching her fists at her sides as she tried to resist the urge to throttle him. "You came to let me know you're trying to Shanghai me? That's really big of you, Gregor!"
"He'll be by your place tomorrow," Gregor answered with all the stern finality of a judgment. "Templar Cyrin won't be there to overrule it like she was when they came through in school." Mina, at Abby's firm wishes not to be a fighter, had practically made it a felony for all of the recruiters that were trying to snatch up a girl with her proficiency scores to so much as look in her direction.
"He's wasting his time," Abigaile answered just as firmly as she crossed her arms. "I won't be there. I have an appointment."
"It's a recruiter, Abigaile," he told her with growing irritation. "Unless your appointment is with the Grand Secretary, you reschedule."
"You can't make me something I'm not, Gregor," she answered back. "I won't let you."
"I'm not trying to make you something you're not, Abigaile!" he insisted, but when she tried to walk past him, he reached out and grabbed her arm. "I'm trying to keep you from denying what you are!"
In one quick movement, responding with her temper high to the grabbing of her arm, Abby wheeled around, dagger already in hand as the spin brought its razor edge a hair's breadth from the flesh of his neck and in the same motion, she flipped him neatly over the bridge's railing and into the water below. It was a move designed to be a kill response, but the slight avoidance illustrated both control and precision.
A moment later, he bobbed back to the top of the water, treading as he spit the fluid out of his mouth. "You see!?" he insisted. "This is what I'm talking about! Healer, my grandfather's ass!"
She chuckled as she clicked the blade back into its shoulder holster underneath her jacket. "You'd think you'd know by now," she called back down, "what happens when you don't listen to me saying hands off, Gregor! And by the way, I wasn't lying about the appointment! It's in Inner Heaven, so don't bother looking for me! It's out of the jurisdiction of your Commander and his precious recruiter!"
Yes, this young woman was none other than Abigaile Tohru, having fallen out of the habit of giving her last name first after so long in a culture that did the opposite. She had changed a lot over the centuries, had grown into a young woman, but a lot about her hadn't changed, too. Dr. Cillian Devine's alteration work all that time ago was good, good enough to withstand time, good enough to alter her basic genetic destiny. Indeed, the past two millennia had seen Abigaile grow back up, but neither was it into her original human dimensions, nor was it her shorter form, though there were a couple of centuries when she greatly resembled that short and shorthaired catgirl. Now, she was virtually identical, physically, to that wonderfully goddess-like beauty the incubus had handcrafted back then. Her hair had grown out, and now hung down to the back of her calves in a priestess braid as her ever-present ears peeked out of the top on either side, and it was safe to say that she hadn't worn a kimono in some time. Another change was a secondary one. Because her child form sported her twin nekomata tails, so now did she, not that Michael had minded. It had been by his request at one point that she kept them even when the alteration was reapplied at one point before they had given up on keeping her out of a century of preschool. Because of these extra extremeties, she had found her wardrobe rather restricted growing up. Even though women wearing pants had become more acceptable in Greater Eden a little less than a thousand years ago, they would have required her to either wear inappropriately low pants or manually tailor in a hole in the back in order to accommodate the tails. One was culturally unacceptable and the other was just a huge hassle, both to add and to put the things through every time. Instead, she stuck to dresses and skirts, which was something she hadn't really minded, anyway.
The weather was nice today, just on the cusps of Summer and Fall, a slight nip to the air that enlivened but didn't chill, so she was leaning against the bridge's railings and looking out over the water of the large river that crossed through the capitol in a knee-length black skirt that was loose enough to give her tails room to swish idly beneath, a white, short-sleeved blouse top and a red half-jacket. Somewhere in the surrounding city, she could hear a radio playing. It was an old-style one, at least to her, but they were getting to be quite popular with the demons. Its staticky speakers reproduced an Italian opera, recalled by someone who had passed in the Living World and had taught it to demon performers. The long, hearty bass as the male lead belted out his longing for his darling little Nina, which probably wouldn't have actually reached ears any less talented than hers at that distance, pulled at her own heart, and she wondered for not the first time what had happened to everyone back there. Certainly, she missed Inner Heaven, too, but trade had increased between the two nation-states, even creating a dot of settlements along the road that had been established through the no longer quite so hostile barrens, and her second home, and second family, never seemed quite so far away as it did when she was younger.
Time in Otherworld, she knew, traveled far faster than it did in the Living World, about seven times as near as it was convenient to estimate. There were plenty of theories about it, the most popular involving different speeds of rotation due to some sort of planar sandwich. In this model, Otherworld was at the bottom, or perhaps core, Earth, the Living World, was the middle layer and Heaven was on top. This matched that Otherworld seemed to be significantly smaller than its mortal counterpart. Heaven, on the other hand, would by that logic be the biggest and also possess the slowest march of time, a progress that would be a snail's pace of days to Otherworld's year. Of course, by matter of course, nobody in Otherworld had ever actually been to Heaven, so it was little more than a guess based upon a slightly better supported theory backed up by popular vertical alignment mythology. Of course, these Planar-Temporal Theory lessons, as teachers throughout her schooling called them, were all but irrelevant. The fact remained that the friends and life she was thinking of took place on Earth, and while nearly two thousand years certainly hadn't passed, about two and a half centuries most certainly had. Her friends, her parents, the entire world as she knew it would be long since gone. Sure, she could spend centuries trying to track them down, but there were other things required of her, and the mass of people, both in Otherworld and coming into it, would make it a virtually impossible task. Sure, a couple of them would still be alive, those that weren't human or were no longer such. Emilie, for one, Headmaster Tailos would still be around, too, though Tekia would be his only still-living Enforcer. And then there was Tadashi, of course. Tadashi, Raizer, Kaizen ... It didn't matter what anyone said about them being different people. As far as she was concerned, they were all the same person. Unfortunately, as far as anyone knew, even the Tenth, he was still in the Human World. Given his last time he pulled that, it might very well be until the Living World had reached two thousand years before she saw him again.
The family and friends in Inner Heaven were more easily traced, mostly because she heard from them regularly now that she was out of Mina's house and could receive her own mail. Her dear Aoi-san, now her Neesan Ayaka, never did actually make it into the Academy, but still lived as Michelle's adopted daughter. She had moved out, though. A nice young man from Outer City got smitten with her a few centuries back, and her with him. They married and he supported them both with his relatively well-to-do trading business on the river. Talk of trains being looked into given the great distance between the countries worried Abby that his business would go the way of its ancestors in the Human World, but her fears were eased when she found out that he was the one behind the talks. He'd take good care of her Neesan, and the niece or nephew on the way. Yup, Ayaka was with child, and had been for the better part of the last century. Abby had delighted in letting her in on that little bit of demon physiology when the older sister had complained about entering a second decade of morning sickness and still having nothing to show for it. By now, of course, she was quite round and coming up on the end of her term. A decade or so more and, as Ayaka was fond of putting it, she'd be able to go to the bathroom less than every five minutes and could do so without waddling the whole way. At least the labor wouldn't be as long as the pregnancy.
Kazuya, on the other hand, had gotten into the Academy, and with Saleh's help, he graduated into a great position with the navy. After serving his tour of duty, he transferred to a Reserve post and went back to fishing, confident in his own ability to defend his boats. Of course, an added motivation was to help Saleh and Aphasia. Last time she heard, they practically had a small clutch of cute little mouths to feed. That mermaid could really pump out the kids, and with eggs, she didn't have to carry them around like poor Ayaka. Abby was looking forward to getting back to see them. After all, Aphasia being her double counterpart in this realm, the kids were practically her own, though she'd settle for being Auntie Abby.
Hiromi had been happy to hear from one of the two people she graduated with, but had been disappointed that Tadashi wasn't with her. Since the two were always together, the green-haired girl had held onto hope that such had stayed the case, but at the same time, she knew there was little hope in keeping track of Tadashi if he didn't want to be. Over the past centuries, however, the girl had risen until she was a First Lieutenant herself, and all indication was that she had been bringing much honor to her house. Her father was pleased, and she and Captain Ken Iori had gotten close, or as close as Ken would allow given their positions. Of course, rumor was that his best friend, Captain Hideki of the Ninth was still single after all this time. The shy man had expected to step down from the position, only for events with Greater Eden to come up, and for stability, he had kept his position.
Her own Captain, Third Captain Selina Kurita, was still healing the injured, but 36F, her old squad, still didn't have a lot of healing kido, and the healer had passed along a message that they were eager to get her back. She couldn't help but chuckle at that. When she first came through and used her Dia on all of the sick people, not knowing that they were still treated the old-fashioned way, she had cleared the entire pavilion in an hour's time. Then, the other girls had complained about having nothing to do (or rather that the cute soldiers were all gone), but once work as usual had picked back up again, they apparently missed sitting around and gossipping. They were a good bunch, though, and she was looking forward to seeing them. Selina warned her that, given that it had been so long and her nation of residence had technically changed by adoption, she may have had to apply at the Academy again. Well, that didn't bother her much. She cleared the twenty-two-year school in two weeks last time. This time, she would just take the physical test and blow through it. Literally, she amended with a grin.
That just left, last but certainly not least, her C/O in the Tenth, adopted mother in Inner Heaven and the woman to whom she gave credit for coming as far as she had, Michelle, and in turn her mother, Tabetha. They may have been mother and daughter, but as personalities went, Tabetha had always seemed the caretaker while Michelle was the disciplinarian. She could almost see Tabetha smiling over at her from in front of the stove as she cooked dinner or in front of the sink as she cleaned the dishes afterwards. Michelle, on the other hand, was difficult to picture in any other way than leaping at her from a moonlit rooftop, kunai in hand. The mental images made Abigaile sigh with longing. She missed them both.
And then there was Michael. Ah, like Abby would ever be able to forget him ... The young man chose to go back to being a kid with her and grow up alongside her. Truth be told, his head had cleared up a lot over the centuries. Nevertheless, he was still Michael, as dear as a brother and as dense as a rock. When she had had something worth accompanying it again, she had even gone back to wearing a bell around her neck on a red ribbon choker. It always seemed to keep the boy from getting sidetracked and wandering off. Instead, he'd follow that bell like a horse follows a carrot. It was sweet, which was defining him in one word.
Footsteps on the bridge pulled her out of her reverie as she realized their course by ear. They were not simply crossing the bridge, but coming toward her. "Ah, there you are, Kitty-Cat!" a young man called out snidely, as if it was intentionally both a dear nickname and a derogatory pet name at the same time.
She didn't bother looking toward him, however. She didn't have to. That told her who he was, and she needed no clarification on what he was doing or wearing. He was one of those anomalies of the demon world. Even in surroundings that could almost pass for an on-the-way-to-modern city, he exhuded the air of an Old World. And that air was thick with the kind of high-class smugness of untouchability only noble blood could grant. He was out of his armor and in his more luxurious burgandy silks, but his hand-and-a-half sword was still on his back. Frankly, she thought the blonde boy, who would be incredibly handsome if he weren't such a brat, was just overcompensating with the largest weapon he could possibly handle with one hand. She, herself, still favored the kunai, which meant she had taken to knives and daggers "growing up." She signed, knowing he wasn't going to go away. "What do you want, Gregor?"
"Same thing I always want!" he answered cheerfully as he sauntered over next to her and took her by the shoulders, leaning in close as one hand went down toward her posterior. "You, me and a nice, lonely field assignment out under the stars."
Abby's ears flattened as she scowled, her tails twitching as she brought her hand up, glowing white. "Gregor, so help me Lucifer, if you don't remove your hands this instant, stars will be all you'll see."
He gave a grin as if he was so cocksure she wouldn't dare, but he removed them all the same. "I don't get you," he admitted as he turned away and leaned against the railing. "You're a shoe-in for the military. Your power borders on freakish. You take the whole idea of what it means to be a Class S and turn it on its head. There isn't a physical test they could run you through that you wouldn't make them rewrite." He shook his head in exhasperation. "Heaven, there isn't even a wall they could put in front of you that you couldn't blow to dust. That weird Aether you do, do you have any idea how many magiscientists in Greater Eden want to figure that out? About as many as want to figure how you've been hurdles ahead of trained soldiers since you were five hundred."
Yes, actually, Abby silently reflected, she knew exactly how many, but she wasn't going to say that. "I'd guess it's got to do with me being a Turned."
But Gregor just scoffed and rolled his eyes at that. He'd heard that before and didn't buy it. "Come on, Abigaile, don't give me that line. You and I both know you're no Turned. Spirit tests showed you were clean as a whistle ages ago. As far as even you know, you were born that way. Just one more reason they'd like to put you under a microscope. You're one giant, enigmatic anomaly. Lucifer damn it, girl, you're a freak! But you're the kind of freak that the military would bow down and worship to get on their team. You could get any front-line post in the world with a word, and you'd be damn good at it."
It was a good thing for the young man that Abby knew words like that were just in his nature. He was born, bred and trained to be a tactless jackass with those of lower standing. He was also taught that outside of military ranking, everyone was of lower standing. She learned long ago, back in what constituted middle and high school for them both, to take his word choices with a couple spoonfuls of salt. "Like my mother," she answered, referring to Mina, "I am a healer, Gregor, not a fighter."
"Yeah, and we both know that's Class S Minotaur droppings, too," the nobleman fired back. "I've watched you for over five hundred years. I've seen how you respond when someone tries to surprise you, I've seen how you dealt with bullies. Heaven, girl, I've seen how you've dealt with me! And don't even bother claiming it came with the ears. That'd make you a scrapper, sure, but you're not. You're too refined." He pointed that finger at her like an accusation. "You've been trained, Abigaile. You know it and I know it. And it sure as Lucifer wasn't in Healing."
She opened her mouth to retort back, but paused and decided to take a different approach. "Gregor, think about that for a moment. If you're right and I had been trained, but am not with the military and clearly have no interest in entering the military, don't you think that would mean that maybe I didn't like what I had learned and had no interest in using it to spread pain and death?"
The nobleman scowled back at her, scorn clear in his gaze. "It is our patriotic duty to serve Greater Eden with all of our talents, Abigaile. Now, I told my commander about you today, and he's passing down instructions for a recruiter to come see you."
"That's what this is about!?" Abby raged vehemently in response, clenching her fists at her sides as she tried to resist the urge to throttle him. "You came to let me know you're trying to Shanghai me? That's really big of you, Gregor!"
"He'll be by your place tomorrow," Gregor answered with all the stern finality of a judgment. "Templar Cyrin won't be there to overrule it like she was when they came through in school." Mina, at Abby's firm wishes not to be a fighter, had practically made it a felony for all of the recruiters that were trying to snatch up a girl with her proficiency scores to so much as look in her direction.
"He's wasting his time," Abigaile answered just as firmly as she crossed her arms. "I won't be there. I have an appointment."
"It's a recruiter, Abigaile," he told her with growing irritation. "Unless your appointment is with the Grand Secretary, you reschedule."
"You can't make me something I'm not, Gregor," she answered back. "I won't let you."
"I'm not trying to make you something you're not, Abigaile!" he insisted, but when she tried to walk past him, he reached out and grabbed her arm. "I'm trying to keep you from denying what you are!"
In one quick movement, responding with her temper high to the grabbing of her arm, Abby wheeled around, dagger already in hand as the spin brought its razor edge a hair's breadth from the flesh of his neck and in the same motion, she flipped him neatly over the bridge's railing and into the water below. It was a move designed to be a kill response, but the slight avoidance illustrated both control and precision.
A moment later, he bobbed back to the top of the water, treading as he spit the fluid out of his mouth. "You see!?" he insisted. "This is what I'm talking about! Healer, my grandfather's ass!"
She chuckled as she clicked the blade back into its shoulder holster underneath her jacket. "You'd think you'd know by now," she called back down, "what happens when you don't listen to me saying hands off, Gregor! And by the way, I wasn't lying about the appointment! It's in Inner Heaven, so don't bother looking for me! It's out of the jurisdiction of your Commander and his precious recruiter!"
Powers:
For simplicity, only the strongest examples of each phase will be listed. Each phase possesses everything listed for every phase before it, as well as variations of power between them and usually other minor tricks or techniques.
All forms have the innate passive ability to repel incoming attempts against her mind or nervous system. Any technique or spell targeting her attempting to charm, paralyze, tranquilize, put to sleep, etc. will not only not have any effect on her, but be redirected back to the caster automatically. Abigaile is not even aware that an attempt to do so has been made against her. More mundane attempts (such as tranquilizer darts or sleeping gas) function as normal, minus changes in dosage required based on the fortitude of the form.
Phase 1:
Garu - A light air-elemented magic attack that strikes a single target with swirling, slicing winds.
Zan - A light nonelemental magic attack. It is more draining to use than her Garu, but ignores elemental resistances.
Dia - A light recovery magic that heals small injuries.
Scratch - Her nails briefly become claws to allow her to strike at an enemy.
Phase 2:
Maha Garu - A wide-dispersal, light air-elemented magic attack that can strike multiple targets with swirling, slicing winds.
Garula - A single-target wind attack that is significantly more powerful than a Garu-level spell.
Dia - A general healing spell that recovers the target using energies from the user. While not a powerfully advanced spell, its general nature makes it useful for nearly any kind of injury, and Abby has become magically powerful enough to be able to use it to heal almost anything if she can spare a few moments of complete concentration on the target. The more serious the injury, the more time (effectively, the more castings) it requires.
Zanma - A potent almighty spell unleashed on a single target. It is more draining to use than her wind techniques.
Flash Step - Demon magic that allows the user to move at incredibly high speeds for short periods of time. As a lower-end user, Chibi Abby is not as fast as a more experienced user of the technique and has to take time to gather the large amounts of energy required.
Kaiken - Demon magic that forms a barrier to protect from incoming damage.
Double - Demon magic that creates a fake double to fool the opponent. The double can't act or move in any way. It is stuck in whatever position the user was in when it was used. It can be charged with energy that is discharged like a mine when struck.
Phase 3:
Magarudyne - An incredibly powerful wind attack that strikes all of Abigaile's enemies at once with slicing, razor-sharp winds
Megidolaon - A massive attack of nonelemental energy that bypasses elemental resistances, but is similarly draining. Nevertheless, it is, for all intents and purposes, virtually a small-scale nuclear detonation without the fallout. Abigaile won't use it for this reason unless there is nothing but enemies around her to avoid friendly fire.
Tempest Slash - It took her two thousand years, but Abby's good ol' Scratch has finally improved. This melee slashing attack does far larger damage than its original counterpart, and she's fast enough to get both hands in for it for a double hit.
Samarecarm - Abigaile's healing abilities have expanded through time and practice. She can now completely heal someone even if they have just been "killed." If she waits too long, however, the spirit moves on and this ability no longer has any effect.
Flash Step - She is now effectively an expert at the technique, able to get the most out of the technique and no longer requiring a charge time before use.
Equipment:
Phase 1:
None
Phase 2:
A single kunai given to her by Michelle Fae'on that she keeps up her sleeve. Given her new size, she wields it like a short sword.
Phase 3:
Her old Kunai is retired as a treasured belonging, as her cover required her to adopt a similar European weapon, the dagger, stored in a shoulder sheath under her left arm.
Weakness:
Phase 1:
Very nearly a normal human in terms of durability and less so in brute strength, though she is almost supernaturally agile.
Phase 2:
Easily kicked around and unable to deal heavy amounts of physical damage for her power level due to her extremely small form. Her short legs also prevent her from running very quickly, though she can levitate to make up for it. Reduced as her mental state has been, she is extremely easy to bribe or distract with sweets such as candy or chocolate.
Phase 3:
Despite having her speed and agility as her greatest physical attributes, without Flash Step, she's slower than other people of her power level and has a comparably narrow ability selection, making her somewhat predictable.
