Chapter 462: Circumstances for the repayment
“Father…are you sure that this…maker woman didn’t ask for anything in return at the time?,” Zhen Long asked. “It had been a really long time since you met her and it’s possible you paid her back already.”
Zhen Shi shook his head almost immediately at Zhen Long’s statement.
“I know the debt hasn’t been paid yet because, I remember the one really weird, really specific thing she said would be proof that everything had been settled,” Zhen Shi explained.
“Which would be…”
“Cubed caramels.”
“What?”
“She said, and I might be paraphrasing a bit, that the moment I see a bag of cubed caramels with her shop’s emblem on it, that is the sign that everything has been settled.”
All seven of Zhen Shi’s sons and their spouses just looked absolutely bewildered at this statement. Partially because how nonsensical such a sign would be, but mostly because they had no idea what the fuck caramel was.
“Are…are you sure she didn’t mean cubes of honey?,” Zhen Xi asked.
“Funnily you enough, your mother asked that exact same question.”
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Scene: PRINCESS and LOVER have the travel documents they need in hand and are preparing themselves to leave. GUIDE has finished the candy reward at this point and is ready to go. All the while, MAKER just looks amused.
PRINCESS: “Are you sure you don’t want us to repay you now? We brought plenty of funds with us for the express purpose of covering our tracks.”
MAKER for her part just waved off the offer.
MAKER: “Believe me when I say that the person who will be covering your debts will provide a more than ample compensation for services rendered tonight.”
LOVER: “Not to sound rude, but how will we know everything has been settled? That the debt has been paid, oath fulfilled and whatnot?”
MAKER should look deep in thought in this moment before reaching down under the counter and pulling out two items. The first should be a simple looking bag made of silk with her shop’s emblem emblazoned upon the fabric, a pair of doves in flight. The second item should be a small cube of caramel candy. Granted, in the eyes of MAKER and LOVER, this should look fairly foreign despite the latter having eaten a piece already.
MAKER: “When the debt has been paid, you’ll see a bag with this emblem on it full of caramel cubes. Consider it a little bonus and sign of thanks from me to you.”
LOVER and PRINCESS should look absolutely bewildered by the statement, because who on Valresta would use a bag of candy as proof of purchase for forged travel documents.
PRINCESS: “Are you sure you don’t mean cubes of honey? Because these looks like that.”
MAKER: *Laughs* “No, no, no. You’ll know the difference between the two when you see it. Now then, GUIDE?”
GUIDE: “Yes ma’am?”
MAKER: “Bring our eloping couple here to the safehouse as quickly as possible. I do believe that the Imperial Trackers will be here in approximately…”
The sound of booming thunder in the distance plays here.
“Six minutes and thirteen seconds from now.”
LOVER and PRINCESS should be shocked at the both the sound of thunder and the prediction. The former due to them recognizing exactly who could make such a noisy arrival, the latter because…how the hell did she this coming?
GUIDE however does not share this same bewilderment and should gesture the couple to get off their feet and get fucking going.
GUIDE: “Oi! Come on now! I’d rather not get involved with Imperials if I can help it.”
GUIDE exits out the door here, followed quickly by LOVER and PRINCESS. MAKER should be waving them goodbye.
MAKER: “Safe travels lovebirds. Make sure to live a long and happy life together, with plenty of children…”
PRINCESS and LOVER should share goodbyes with MAKER as they go, but rather generic sounding ones. The reason being that they didn’t hear her properly as they exit the door.
Once they’re out of stage and earshot, MAKER should look a bit melancholy as she finishes her line from before.
MAKER:”…live the life I wish I could’ve had…”
With these parting words, the stage should look a bit darker now, a touch sadder, as MAKER shoulders sag.
From her pocket she should pull out…
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=Vats of chocolate, ovens full of baked goods, the distinctive smell of sugar and spices…is this a candy workshop? Wait, this stuff distinctively looks to be from Earth, why is that?
‘Oh thank the heavens you two are finally talking again. Question: if I make a kaijin, can I assign somebody else as the controller/master of the kaijin? Because the candy making lady in front of me believe I can do that!’
Logos and Pathos began to playback the last few minutes of Zhen Liu’s memories, feelings of confusion giving way to revelation as they did.
<=Oooooh. It's like that...=>
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Elsa maintained her bowed position as she essentially begged Zhen Liu to create for her something that had been haunting her for years and years: a child she could call her own.
The silence between the two of them stretched much longer than either felt comfortable with, but it wasn’t without reason.
Honestly, Zhen Liu was fucking bewildered by the whole situation.
It was one thing being called out for being the Kaijin Lord, it was another thing altogether when the the one calling him out is begging for the creation of a child.
These were reality defying monsters that were the embodiment of human desire and primordial [Chaos] energy, not children! Although, a good chunk of his kaijin did act pretty childish on the regular…
Regardless, now wasn’t the time for bewilderment, now was the time for answers and reasons!
As such, it was time to get a bit…personal.
“Alright…why?”
Hearing the question being asked, Elsa immediately straightened herself up and began to give an answer that sounded a touch prepared.
“Several decades ago, I helped your grandfather and grandmother, Zhen Shi and Bai Hua, escape from the Roaring Tide continent so that the two of them could start a new life on Stampeding Bison. I consider the creation of this particular kaijin to be the means to settle the debt.”
“Okay…,” Zhen Liu nodded, a part of him agreeing to this logic. However, this wasn’t good enough for him and he had a feeling this woman was holding something back.
“That’s the reason why I should help you out though,” Zhen Liu pointed out.
“I am asking you…why?”
“Because your family wouldn’t be-.”
Zhen Liu let out an audible exhalation of air as he focused on Elsa entirely, his gaze sharpening a bit as he tried to make himself a bit more…domineering.
“I am not asking why I should help you, I am asking, why do you want me to make you a kaijin as repayment?,” Zhen Liu asked point blank.
“Kaijin are beings made of desire, yours included, but I am not going to willy-nilly create a being that actively defies reality by breathing in the first place, just because of some old debt that I’m not entirely sure if my grandfather even remembers,” Zhen Liu elaborated further.
“So I am asking you, the otherlander from an Earth different my own, why do you want a kaijin to be your child? Or better yet…why should I entrust one of my creations to you?”
Elsa was stunned silent as she realized this question wasn’t a matter of circumstances of repaying debts, rather this was question about her own build of character.
For a very, very long time she would be the one who would judge the intention of others, assisting how she saw fit.
This was the first time she had to reveal and possibly judge her own intentions to someone else.
“Where do I even begin…let me ask you this first: on your Earth, are there people who can use the power of their mind to control their surroundings?”
“You mean espers?”
“Do you have them?”
“…No. On my Earth they’re the stuff of fiction.”
“Well, on my world, espers are real. And one very bad, very powerful one, tried to make it so they were the only one left…”
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Earth Version: Unknown
Deviance: Esper development.
Date of development: Unknown
Date of deviance revelation: 1900
Description:
This version of Earth has seen the development and propagation of psychic abilities shortly after the Second Industrial Revolution, now called the ESPER revolution.
Society for the most part was similar up until this moment, at which point, reactions about the existence of ESPERs varied.
Some nations embraced the development, others called them witches, many of them started to use ESPERs in their military forces and political systems.
The First ESPER War was fought by artillery of both physical and mental.
The Second one was even worst, as one of its main players had a rather…unsettling focus on how to dominate the world.
