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Chapter 357: Heroes Revealed - Markets and Multiverses
🕑 Added 2025-02-27 04:49:55 +0000 UTCAuthor’s Note:
I made a slight adjustment to the ending of last chapter, to imply that Anise and Miria are settling some things with their family this chapter. When I was reworking this chapter, I started to feel like it made much more sense to settle that now, instead of in the chapter after this - so I swapped around which chapter some things occur in. Given the personality of Miria's three family members, I think this order makes more sense. All of them are people who prioritize warmth, love, and family pretty heavily... so they would want to settle any potential problems quickly instead of waiting.
As the flying defenders moved towards the rest of the city, our parents stared at Anise and I. My father glanced around us, and I watched as well. The enemies around us were vanishing rapidly, and I suspected that in half an hour or less most of the awakened buildings would be cleared out. I could still see lots of injured or dying people in the distance. I felt bad that I couldn’t help them, but I was already out of essence. There was nothing I could do. I turned back towards my parents, and they looked at Anise and I.
Their expressions were, if anything, even more strange than they had been before the battle. My father looked as if he thought he was dreaming, and my mother kept looking between Anise and I as if we were alien creatures that had flown in from a UFO a few seconds ago. A few moments of awkward silence passed, before my mother turned towards Anise.
“Anise… sweetie. Have you always… No, that’s the wrong question.” Her voice grew firmer, and she knelt right in front of Anise before looking into Anise’s eyes. “Are you a hero?” she asked quietly. Then, she glanced towards me. “And you, Miria. Are you also a hero?”
Anise hesitated for a moment, before she turned towards me. I blinked in surprise, and then took a step closer to Anise. I grabbed her hand, because sisters should support each other when things got strange. Then, I turned attention back to our mother. Finally, I nodded.
“Both of us are heroes, mom. We didn’t mention it earlier, because I always thought it would make more sense to reveal it when we entered school,” I said. “I thought it wasn’t a bad thing to spend a few more years just being children. I’m sure the city will have some sort of special training plan cooked up for us, but I always wanted to spend a bit more time with you and dad first. I also… didn’t want the way you looked at us to change,” I said. I realized it was true as I said it. I had hesitated a lot to reveal our nature as heroes - and part of that was fear of losing the family I had just gained. This world’s legends about heroes didn’t seem to include any explicit information about the Market, but if there was any dimension well-positioned to know exactly how the Market worked, it would be this one. After all, this world was explicitly designed and managed by a corporation. Anything the corporation deemed ‘useful’ was likely to be part of the world’s culture, or at least its culture from before people fled to the sanctuaries.
My mother looked around again, and paid particular attention to some of the people I had healed. They were standing further away, clearly more than slightly intimidated by the recent departure of the flying defender and the chaos unfolding around the city. However, their curiosity towards Anise and I was also evident. Anise had very publicly used abilities that didn’t belong to the ‘complete’ magic systems of this dimension, and I had just used near-miraculous healing. My mother smiled faintly as she looked at the people we had helped. Then, she picked both of us up and folded us into a crushing hug.
“Girls, you don’t have to worry. Your father and I love you very much,” she said, as she nuzzled her face into ours. “Truthfully, a lot of legends about heroes from the past are vague. it’s hard to say what is or isn’t true, because it has been so long since the last heroes emerged. But no matter what, we’ll never treat you any differently. You’re still my two precious daughters, and nothing will ever change that.”
My father moved in closer, before he wrapped all three of us into a bigger, even more crushing hug.
“Miria. Anise. The two of you were afraid, but you still stepped forward to help when it mattered, right? Miria, you used your healing magic to save people who were hurt. I’m not quite sure why you felt the need to splash all of them with water first, or where exactly the water came from… but the fact remains that you stepped up to help people when it mattered. And you did a da - err…. darn fine job saving people’s lives when it mattered,” said my father, while my mother gave him the stink eye. He cleared his throat awkwardly, as he tried to cover up his near-swear. “What I see in front of me is two fine girls who will grow up to be fine young women. Facing your fears and stepping up to help people is the best kind of character trait I could have ever asked for from my children. You’re still young, but both of you are wonderful. I couldn’t ask for anything more as a father.”
I felt a smile pull at my lips. I felt… good.
The four of us kept hugging for several seconds, before our parents released us. After that, my mother gave us a more calculating, curious look now.
“Now that we’ve clarified our position, I do have some questions for both of you,” said my mother. “First of all, how long have you known that you were heroes? Is that why you two always seemed to like stories about heroes so much? Also, now that I think about it, both of you have more advanced linguistic skills than most children your age. It’s not immediately obvious, because some kids develop faster than others - but now that I think about it, you two are both a bit unique in how coordinated and talkative you are.” My mother frowned. “I’ve heard that heroes are unusually intelligent from the moment that they’re born. Is that true?”
I blinked in surprise. Intelligent from the moment they’re born? I had no idea what Grade of Intelligence would be needed to make someone intelligent almost the moment they were born. So far, every time we reincarnated, we spent a few years enduring headaches, blackouts, and having our body work on ‘autopilot’ while our souls got situated. Intelligence clearly helped with that… but this information was concerning. Mostly because, if it was true to this world’s experiences with heroes, it meant this world was built for people who were far stronger than us. We weren’t exactly sure what the average stats of someone ‘should’ be when they entered this world, but from the moment I had seen the eldritch leviathan I had started to suspect we were rather below what was expected. Even if the corporation running this world had left us a few powerups, was it really enough to create a huge difference in strength?
I decided that Anise and I needed to check out the staircase in the middle of the city as soon as possible.
“Miria? Sweetie, are you paying attention to me?” asked my mother.
<Miria, you spaced out for a second. Are you all right?> asked Anise.
<I’m fine, I just got distracted. i was thinking about how strong people would normally be when they entered this world,> I said.
“I’m paying attention, mom. I think I remember being self aware somewhere between three and four years old?” I said. “Trying to finish learning the language and understand the world around me took a lot longer, though. I had enhanced thinking capabilities… but that doesn’t mean I instantly understood the world around me.”
“I see,” said my mother, as she nodded thoughtfully.
I hesitated. My parents seemed like good people. I also felt guilty only giving them half truths. They had treated Anise and I with nothing but earnest love and care during our life so far. A few minutes ago, I had feared a reveal about the nature of the market. Now, I wondered if it wasn’t the right thing to do. Maybe not right this minute - after all, Anise and I were still very dependent on parents to function in this world, and I suspected that some of the powerhouses might be paying more attention to us than I was comfortable with right now. After all, we had just outed ourselves as potential heroes.
Still, while telling our parents about the Market and its fall probably wasn’t the correct decision right this minute, it was something to think about later. If my parents seemed like they wouldn’t react badly to the idea, I would ask the rest of the group if I could explain more.
Then I realized I hadn’t said much to Sallia and Felix since the fight started. Before I forgot, I messaged them to update them about what was happening.
<Anise and I have been outed as heroes. We had to take action to keep ourselves and nearby people safe.> I said.
<Got it,> said Felix. <Sallia and I could reveal ourselves now… but I think it might be better if we remain inconspicuous for a bit.>
<Why?> I asked.
<Based on what we know, the city will probably welcome a new round of heroes… for the most part. But the birth of a few new heroes does also potentially threaten the power and position of the people at the top of the food chain in this world. I have noticed that people here act oddly… well, nice here. But I don’t know why, so I want to see if the upper echelons of this world plot any sort of bad behavior behind the scenes. If they do, Sallia and I being unknown could serve as ways to keep you and Anise safe for a while and give us time to develop a new plan. If the higher ups don’t develop any sort of hostile intention towards you… well, at least I’ll know that it’s not just me misunderstanding things.>
I paused. I hadn’t really thought of it in quite the same way Felix had, but I certainly had noticed that people here seemed very nice as well. I just hadn’t noticed how odd that was until now.
Was it some sort of feature installed by the corporation that used to run this world? If so, how had they even done it? Magically enforced brainwashing? Systematic genetic manipulation? Some other source entirely?
<Got it. Keep an eye on things and keep Anise and I updated,> I said.
<Sounds good,> said Felix.
<I’ll copy Felix’s plan. If something goes wrong, let me know. I might not be able to get to you guys quickly, because my legs are really short right now. But if anything happens, I’ll do absolutely everything I can to help you.> said Sallia.
I grinned. It was good to have friends on my side.
After that, our parents started to bombard Anise and I with smaller questions. They asked us what was or wasn’t true about heroes. We told them basic facts. We could, indeed, generate essence on our own, without any special food needs. We did, indeed, have odd magic systems as well. Anise showed our parents her spells, which didn’t seem to spark much excitement from them - my mother had seen far more impressive things from her own father, after all. I didn’t have enough essence to give my parents a demonstration of my abilities, but I talked about what I could do. They seemed more than happy to listen and talk with us, without demanding any answers we weren’t comfortable giving. It was a comfortable conversation.
After several minutes, the flying defenders and other mages finished cleaning up the city. A few of them returned to our side, before they gave Anise and I probing looks.
“So you’re the little ones that helped out.” The first soldier ruffled Anise’s bright pink hair, before he grinned at her. “You’re a lovely little spellcaster, aren’t you? As for you… you seem to be some sort of healer?” He asked, as he turned towards me. He gave my hair a quick ruffle as well.
The other flying defender, a woman with fluffy fox ears, sidled up to my mother and smiled. “I think I remember you… you’re the daughter of that old fellow near the top of the tree, aren’t you? I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name… but I think I saw you a few times when I was little.”
My mother frowned. “I think I remember you as well. Were you the girl that always liked those little green insects?”
The older fox-woman grimaced. “That was… a different time. I was much younger.” She cleared her throat awkwardly. “Anyway. Are these two your daughters?”
My mother nodded. “Yes. The one with pink hair is Anise, and the one with blonde hair is Miria.”
The female soldier nodded. “Nice to meet you, little Anise and little Miria.” She leaned closer to both of us, before she squinted. “I know it’s unlikely, since at this point, it’s obvious something is different. But I still have to ask, for the sake of clarity… are either of you heroes?”
Anise and I hesitated for one final moment, before we nodded. It was too late to lie, and unless there was something I hadn’t noticed, there was no reason to, either.
The female soldier smiled brightly.
“So heroes really do exist…” said the female soldier softly, before she turned back towards my mother. “The king and the three Sentinel-Reclaimers of the city will want to know about this, so I’ll carry word to them. If that’s all right with you two?” she asked, as she turned towards our parents.
My mother and father glanced at Anise and I. We nodded. My mother and father turned back to the soldiers and nodded.
“Lovely!” Said the soldier. “Then I’ll let them know. I imagine I or another soldier will contact you again within a week. Where do you live?”
My mother gave her the location of our bakery, and the soldier nodded.
“Thank you. And thank the two of you as well, for being born,” she said, before she knelt closer to Anise and I. For a moment, it looked almost like she wanted to hug us, before she held herself back.
I felt bad for her, so I moved a bit closer and gave her a hug. Hugs were for everyone, after all. The soldier laughed, and ruffled my hair again. Then, she turned to the other soldier who had alighted in front of us, and the two of them shared a look. They flew into the distance.
Author’s Note:
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