A Nascent Kaleidoscope.-Chapter 608 - 550

Jeanne looked at Hela.

Hela looked back at Jeanne.

Jeanne smiled, but Hela remained emotionless as the goddess inspected her supposed sister.

"...Do you want to see my cactus?" Jeanne asked.

"Your, what?"

Jeanne happily took it out, holding it for Hela to see. "His name is Hubert."

"....."

It's funny, the stark contrast between how Jeanne was during the Grail War and now. When she wasn't bound by duty, she didn't have to force herself to be serious. She can be...silly, whimsical, and playful.

Not that she didn't have moments during that time, but the weight of her responsibility was rather clear.

Now, she's just happy and playful the majority of the time.

"Your plant is...very nice." Hela squeezed out.

Additionally, it's funny because Jeanne isn't ditzy. She's extremely competent and intelligent; she's mindful and perceptive. Likewise, this side of her is also genuine.

Similar to Jinn, she just... prefers this.

Maybe it was just a result of a repressed side that she's finally able to indulge in.

Their conversation sort of started and stopped like that. Not that I expected anything different; it would have been strange if they both just embraced each other as siblings right there.

Well...Thor kind of did that, but I'd say that's fairly different compared to Hela.

Regardless, it was funny to watch Hela try to wrap her mind around the current situation. Actually, I don't even know if Hela had the same mom as Thor. There were certain things about the timeline she spoke about that implied something different.

I think the Ancient One found it amusing too because she made no effort to interrupt.

"I'm Jeanne D'arc." Jeanne introduced herself.

"....Hela." She replied rather awkwardly. "You are the strangest spirit I've ever met. You remind me of the Einherjar, but different."

Not the first time I've seen that comparison, and I'd call it pretty apt.

And I'm not surprised she noticed, Goddess of Death and all that.

Regardless, Jeanne brightened up that she was responding. "Are you going to be staying here for now on? I'm sure you'll like it; they're very nice here!"

"I am...not sure what my future holds yet." Hela seemed to relax a little. She most assuredly wasn't used to someone so happily conversing with her like this. I was different, I think, maybe a begrudging respect earned from her combined with necessity. Jeanne here looked genuinely ecstatic to meet her and talk. "There are some things, presumably, that I need to learn."

"You're welcome to leave and be seen by Asgard." The Ancient One offered.

Hela scoffed but didn't argue. Again, she seemed to begrudgingly accept that as well. "I never had much of an interest in magic beyond killing and death."

"If it helps, think of it as killing Heimdal's sight of you." I offered.

Hela rolled her eyes. "I am not a child that needs patronizing. I am more than capable of learning any mortal magic."

"I'm sure you'll pick it up quickly!" Jeanne offered it with her signature bright smile.

Hela's lips twitched; I think she nearly shot out something sarcastic but held herself back when she realized that Jeanne was being genuine and not being cheeky like I was.

"Yes." She said simply. "And I suppose I have not much else to do. It's not as if I will return to full strength anytime soon; perhaps it may be acceptable to pick up some tricks in the meantime."

"I've certainly heard worse reasons to want to learn." The Ancient One sighed. "Why don't I show you your personal quarters? I'm sure you would like to settle in and perhaps...freshen up."

"She means you smell." I elaborated, and rather quickly, I took a step to the side to dodge a blade that whistled through the air right where I was standing a moment ago.

Hela was glaring at me.

Though the blade wasn't sharp this time, so progress.

"I will happily accept." Hela said with lips thinned and the tiniest twinge of visible embarrassment as the Ancient One led her away.

"You were asking for that." Jeanne looked at me.

"Probably." I acknowledged.

I do run my mouth sometimes.

"So..." I inched closer to her, my fingers climbing up her arms until I gently pulled her towards me. "Are we going to have a talk about what happened before I ran off to Wakanda?"

Rather quickly, Jeanne flushed and moved the cactus up to block her face. "Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Maybe." She repeated again. "Maybe if you didn't hate it...."

"Maybe I did not, in fact, hate it." I smiled.

"Really?"

"Really." I nodded.

She made a cute noise in response.

I didn't want to pressure her with this, but she's the one who finally made the next step, so I felt like it was fine at this point to nudge her a little.

"Though, if you don't want to say anything, if you want things to stay exactly how they are, we can do that." Still, I didn't want her to feel pressured about it; a little nudge is okay, leaving the door open with unspoken words, but it was still another step.

"Neh." She pushed her head into my chest, thankfully, not stabbing me with her cactus in the process. "You're mean." She said, words muffled into my chest.

"Am I?" I rubbed her head affectionately.

"Bringing this up all of a sudden, I wasn't prepared." I could feel her shifting against me. "Momma said that I'm only allowed to kiss boys that I like." She finally got out.

"Is that so? Is Momma Arc going to be angry then?" I teased her a little.

"Neh!" She looked up at me finally, cheeks puffed, but still pink. "You have to take responsibility!" She blurted out.

"You're going to make me take responsibility then?" I chuckled.

"I-if you don't, then you're not allowed to...to touch my butt anymore!" She threatened, still looking at me cutely, but she got quiet and looked away. ".....or do other things." She spoke in a really soft and shy voice.

"If I take responsibility, do I get more kisses?" I hummed, pretending to be thoughtful about it.

"If you behave." She replied, returning a bit of sass despite her very obvious bashfulness about the whole situation.

"Then the most important question. If I take responsibility, will it make Jeanne happy?"

Her arms tightened around me, and she pushed her head back into my chest. "Really, really happy." She muffled.

"Then of course I'll take responsibility, because making Jeanne happy is one of the most important things in my life." I whispered to her to hear.

It took a moment, but I could hear her giggling, and her body rocked back and forth like she was having trouble containing herself. "I wish I could tell Momma. She'd be so happy to know that I finally had a..."

"Had a what?" I coaxed her.

"B-boyfriend."

Though that seemed to finally tip her over the edge.

"Ineedtogodosomethingbye." She blurted it out in one breath and ran off without anything else.

Well, we can work out the details later. It must have taken her a lot of courage to get this far. The most important thing has already been sorted, I suppose.

Now....

I was left alone and had no idea what to do next.

Obviously, I wasn't going to go bother Jeanne while she most likely is sorting herself out. Likewise, I didn't want to leave while she was doing so.

I needed to ask the Ancient One about some stuff before I tried using the Vibranium I had.

I admit that I felt a bit giddy myself. If it were any of my other girls, this wouldn't have gone on this long without me saying something, but since it was Jeanne, I had let her take things at her own pace. So, I was much more...settled and confident in our relationship than she was. But that didn't mean I wasn't suddenly filled with energy that I had no idea what to do with.

With a burst of Shunpo, I shot up to the top of the temple, able to overlook the entirety of Kamar-Taj.

It was rather beautiful, the untouched mountains that surrounded us. The snowflakes drifted through the wind, melting as soon as they got within the domain of the temple.

I sat down cross-legged and took out my Zanpakutō, entering a meditative position.

[Line Break]

It took a few moments, but when I opened my eyes, I was inside my inner world.

"I was not expecting you today." My Zanpakutō spirit spoke first. "However, I can understand why you're here at this particular time."

Was I smiling stupidly? I can imagine that I was. "I need to do something to calm myself down." freewēbnoveℓ.com

A good calming down, not like how angry I was after the Wakanda thing, which I had done an almost complete 180 on now.

Funny how things turn out.

"It's about time you continued your training regardless." Musū Tengai hummed. "It's unfortunate that Ddraig isn't here, however."

"....."

"I'm sure he would like to watch." He added.

"....." I looked away.

"Wilhelm." He looked at me with a now deadpan expression. "Check on Ddraig soon."

I sighed. "Fine."

He's a big dragon; he can take care of himself.

"Let's do this. What am I fighting this time? My magical nemesis again?" I looked at Musū Tengai.

"You already passed that round; it's time for the next one." He replied, shaking his head. "Each one will be different, focusing on something different. It's for you to learn and conquer." He held his hand out, and a mirror sprouted from the ground.

It was the same mirror as before, large enough that it was more like a doorway.

And someone walked out.

We looked at each other.

"This, I did not expect."

"Heh, you're telling me." My copy replied.

We looked rather similar, except his ponytail was pulled lower on his head, and he most certainly wasn't wearing the same clothes as me. Actually, I think his muscles were a tad bigger than mine as well. I could see this because he was wearing a bodysuit not dissimilar to what Cu and Scáthach wear.

It was easy to make this deduction because he held Gae Bolg in his hand.

"Do I at least get to use my sword?" I looked at Musū Tengai.

He answered me by dropping Gae Bolg top of my head.

"Dick."

My copy snorted with a laugh. "What's wrong with Gae Bolg? It's the spear our teacher gave us, isn't it?"

"I'm a swordsman." I grumbled.

"Hoh, that's unfortunate then." He grinned. "For you at least."

"Jesus, you sound just like Cu." I grabbed my own spear and twirled it in my hands. "Did you end up with our teacher too?" I knew that my copies apparently had their own history.

"Married." He smiled, less vicious and cocky. I recognized it as the same smile I had as well. "What about you?"

"Harem. But we're together."

"Huh, didn't think she'd be one for that." He tilted his hand, planting Gae Bolg in the ground, and leaned on it. "Actually, nah, I can see it. She keeps it hidden pretty well, but she also craves that kind of connection, you know? If they all got along, I'm sure she'd love to have a big family."

"Yeah, that's one thing we always had to be cautious of, wasn't it? Making sure she was never lonely after the time she spent in the Land of Shadows."

He nodded warmly. "Honestly, I'm a possessive and greedy bastard; if someone looks at my Scáthach a certain way, I get annoyed. But hearing that you're taking care of her...."

"We're the same person." I adjusted my tie and started rolling up my sleeves. "So of course we feel the same way about it. More important than any jealousy, the thought that they're happy."

"So, we are." He agreed. "Or maybe we're not."

I shrugged. "Maybe we're not.

"An illusion, a copy, a dream." He took a stance with his Gae Bolg. "None of that matters, does it?"

"I suppose it doesn't." I copied him.

I did not master the spear like he apparently did, nor Scáthach. But that didn't mean she didn't teach me to be competent with it.

"Rules?" I asked.

"No magic or other bullshit. Just you, me, and our spears."

Without any more warning, his foot shifted, and that was enough of a signal.

His spear came flying through the air, without him.

He threw it, and I, of course, deflected it as best I could; it had a good amount of power behind it. However, my eyes widened because he was already within my perception. He had snatched the deflected spear out of the air and was already swinging it down on top of me.

I spun my spear up and held it up to block; the resulting force sent out a shockwave, and I felt my knees buckle slightly.

The moment he touched the ground, he disappeared.

Fast.

He was extremely fast.

... I think he was faster than me when I was playing my best.

Just as he disappeared, I did too. The spear and the sword are different. Scáthach always said, a spearman that's stationary is a dead spearman.

So, I moved, and we began our dance.

The scraping of steel sent sparks flying with every third step of Shunpo or so; our spears collided.

I felt his spear slice my cheek as he dodged my own spear. Again, his spear found an opening and pushed about an inch into my chest before I could Shunpo away.

A flurry of his spear attacks made it harder and harder to defend.

Gradually, cuts and stabs began to accumulate; while nothing debilitating, I was looking a mess, and my breathing was beginning to pick up.

Compared to me, he had only a few knicks here or there.

I was at a huge disadvantage. Without all my normal bullshit, he was about as strong and durable as I was, but he was noticeably faster, and he was significantly more skilled with his spear than me.

And he never stayed flat-footed; as soon as it looked like he was about to stop, he had already stepped a dozen times, and his spear was piercing right towards my blind spot.

I had to jerk my head back to avoid a deadly jab, only for him to follow up by trying to sweep my legs.

I stabbed my own Gae Bolg into the ground to block it; the large swipe of his spear hit it with an echo that reverberated loudly throughout the surroundings. However, his knee came forward like lightning, forcing me to grab it and throw myself into his momentum to avoid taking a big hit. I had tumbled across the ground, avoiding any damage, but he was back on my ass, and now I was without my spear.

There was only a moment to consider, and I ripped my tie off completely as I jumped back to my feet, narrowly avoiding another stab of his spear, and went to grab it. Though, each time I tried, I merely clutched air; his speed at avoiding my grasp was just as stellar as his movements previously shown.

I wrapped my tie around my palm, and then I committed. His spear shot through my defenses, and it aimed right at my heart. It pushed into my flesh; I could feel the searing pain, but it only made it about an inch as I grabbed the blade with the hand that I had my tie wrapped around, letting me get a firm grip. Ignoring the pain, I lashed out with my leg, aiming right at his temple.

It was avoidable, easily dodged even, and as he moved to avoid it, he stilled for a moment. My shoe came off and smacked him on the side of the head.

It was innocuous, not even something that could register as pain. But in a fight with this kind of speed and power behind each blow, it was something that he was forced to pay even a fraction of a second's attention to.

Which was enough for me to grab his spear tight and throw my entire body's weight forward into him, and with a single movement, I jerked, and his spear went out of his hands and soared through the air before becoming impaled into the ground some twenty or so feet away.

He was still standing tall, but I was breathing heavily and covered in cuts and wounds at this point.

But I started laughing.

He looked at me before he started laughing too. "Alright, respect. Teacher would kick my ass if she knew I had been disarmed."

"Not mad about the shoe?"

"Nah, not at all. You do what you gotta do to win; it was smart. I'm obviously faster and more skilled, so of course you have to do what you need to even the playing field. You're a bit more wily than I am, something I'll keep in mind from now on."

That's true; he's much more straightforward with how he fights compared to me.

"But if you start taking your pants off, all bets are off."

I chuckled, and my eyes landed on my spear that was...closer. And his eyes landed on his spear as well.

I kicked off my other shoe, so I wasn't lopsided, and he let me.

There didn't need to be words spoken; we both knew that now it was a content of speed.

I could more or less guess the theme of this particular battle, so I obliged.

I moved as fast as I could, and he did the same. With several bursts of Shunpo, I grabbed my spear, pulling it from the ground, only to feel a searing pain in my chest as I saw a similar spear stabbed right through me.

Reluctantly, my Gae Bolg fell out of my hand as I glanced back to see my copy standing behind me.

"Good fight, I look forward to our next one." My copy smiled good-naturedly as my eyes forcibly closed.

[Line Break]

I gasped as my eyes shot open, and instinctively, I clutched my chest where I had just been 'stabbed.'

I don't think I was ever going to get used to being 'killed.'

At least when it was with my magic copy, it was...quicker? Well, getting torn apart by Odin's spell was most certainly not something I want to experience again. But there's something particularly ruthless about getting stabbed to death.

[You did well.] My Zanpakutō spirit spoke within my mind.

"I lost." I stretched, getting up.

[I do not expect you to win any of these fights the first time. If you could win so easily, would it be training?]

He did raise a good point.

"So is it speed this time?"

He hummed as if to acknowledge it. [Perhaps. Perhaps other things as well. That's for you to figure out.

What a noncommittal answer.

I wasn't discouraged, though. As far as mountains to climb, this one felt a lot less steep than the previous.

And I didn't dwell on it, because I had company.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked as the Ancient One was standing there.

"You caused a bit of a commotion; I was merely checking in on you."

"No too big of a commotion, I hope." I didn't want to be a bad guest.

"Nothing particularly bad." She noted. "Just enough for me to be cautious."

Well, speaking of being a bad guest. "I'm sorry for springing Hela on you all of a sudden. When I brought her here, I didn't think she would be forced to stay at Kamar-Taj."

She smiled lightly. "I'm aware; you don't need to apologize. It was my insistence that she stay and learn to hide herself. Granted, that was to avoid a potentially volatile situation, but still. It was my choice in the end."

"Still, I put more on your plate, and I'm sorry about that."

"I accept your apology then for its intention." She chuckled. "However unnecessary it is. So please don't misunderstand my exasperation with dissatisfaction." She added. "I was not lying before, Kamar-Taj has a history of taking in those who not just want to learn magic but need spiritual healing as well. Hela is..."

"In need of therapy?" I offered.

"If there was a therapist that capable enough to handle this sort of thing, I may even sign up myself." She looked like she found the thought amusing. "And I don't mind projects to keep me busy. I've never taught a god our ways before; it should be...entertaining."

"I'm sure that's one word that can be used to describe it."

"Speak of the devil."

I followed her gaze down onto the ground where Hela was walking out of the building. She looked significantly less...frazzled. She wasn't wearing her leather armor anymore, but some neutral robes. Not the same as the sorcerers here, but something loose and comfortably looking.

We both hopped off the top of the building to meet her down below.

"You look better."

"It's the first true bath I've had in thousands of years." She responded with a snort. "I feel as though I've lost weight from all the dirt and grime that came off me."

"Have you tried—" My words died in my mouth as I jerked my head upwards, and both of them followed suit.

I'm sure they both noticed and weren't just following along, because a moment later, a familiar pillar of rainbow light came crashing down on the other side of the temple.

"The Bifrost." Hela grit her teeth, looking like she was ready for a fight.

"I thought you said they couldn't see here?" I shot a look at the Ancient One, as that was clearly the Bifrost.

"I said that Heimdal couldn't see into Kamar-Taj; I never said that they were never able to come here if so desired." She shot back, and rather quickly, we all moved to the other side of the temple at a quick speed.

However, as we arrived, expecting new visitors, we only saw the fellow sorcerers of Kamar-Taj, grouped up in a circle around the place that the Bifrost landed.

At the center, there was a letter.

"Alright everyone, disperse." The Ancient One quickly got them to move away as she pushed through the crowd. They probably have seen more strange things, so it didn't seem like this held much attention for them if she wasn't treating it as a crisis.

Hela looked... I don't want to say panicked, but startled? Maybe a tad worried. There was certainly relief, I could assume, that Odin hadn't appeared and started throwing hands.

But I'm confused; if they can't see into Kamar-Taj, then why send a letter?

The Ancient One picked it up and ripped it open without hesitation. "Well, that's a relief; it does not mention Hela in the slightest."

"So that old man still doesn't know I'm not in that prison any longer." She scoffed. "There's no way he would remain silent on the matter if he knew. An army would have more assuredly appeared on your doorstep."

Well, that's...reassuring.

"Then what—"

"It seems, Mr. Schweinorg." She cut me off. "That you have been cordially invited to Asgard at the behest of Odin himself. And of course, they wish for Miss Arc to join with you. Though, it takes great measure to emphasize the point of the dragon that's currently sitting in the middle of their city."

Well then.

I know nothing about a dragon, and no one can prove otherwise.

[Line Break]

A/N

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