Welcome to Gaia! ::

This is a MegaTen story I'm working on. Feel free to critique or add suggestions for Evie's journey across space and time!

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Prologue

A warm wind blew through the trees as a young woman stretched happily, looking up at a clear sky. It was finally Summer Vacation, after all, and so she could finally relax for a little while and put all that studying behind her. It was Mr. Kataka’s fault for being so insistent on giving them as much homework as possible. But now… freedom! Finally! Evie hummed to herself as she walked along, waiting for the bus. The small town had only a single vehicle that ran around it in a loop, and another that came once every two hours to take people to or from the next town; the train lines hadn’t been extended this far yet, though rumor had it the Government was considering putting in a line to help connect to a larger city further north. It took a few minutes longer for the bus to arrive than the sign claimed (no surprise there; it slowed down just a bit as the day went on and the driver relaxed), but Evie got on with a smile and slipped a few Yen into the payment box anyway.

“Afternoon, Miss.” The driver said tilting his head to her as she passed. Evie just smiled and nodded, then took a seat about halfway back; the bus would be passing through the part of town where all the retired people tended to live, and a few of them would need the wheelchair positions. She sighed lightly as she looked out the window. “So, have you heard that rumor that’s been floating around?”

“Rumor?” Evie asked, looking towards the front of the bus. Their town wasn’t so small that everybody literally knew everybody else, but they were a fairly close community, and every rumor spread fast.

“They say that newfangled religious group’s got something real big planned for this evening, and they’ve invited the whole darn town. I heard a feller on the bus earlier say they might be planning to turn the town into a focus point.”

“You mean train lines going out to a lot of cities, like a hub?” Evie asked curiously. Something like that could make the town into a good trading point, really helping the local economy.

“I’m just saying what I heard, Miss.” The driver answered, tapping the front of his hat as he turned onto another street. “Old feller like me hears a lot of rumors, but I ain’t the sort to guarantee them.” Evie just smiled and nodded, understanding perfectly. It was hard to really go out and investigate something when you were stuck in an old machine all day. She sat back a moment later and gazed out the window as the trees passed by, taking in the smell of leather seats that had been lovingly cared for over many years. Most of the citizens used the bus on a fairly regular basis, and so taking care of it was something of a community job. They all owned it, after all. The girl brushed a few strands of her hair behind an ear a moment later. Finally, nearly half an hour later, the bus came to her stop, and she stepped out. “Have a good day, Miss.”

“Thank you.” Evie answered with a smile before the bus turned and headed off. In front of her was the largest structure in town, the new church that the Followers of Gaia had built. Few of the town’s longtime residents were entirely certain of what the Followers believed… but they were friendly enough, did a lot of charity work, and avoided causing trouble. They’d done a few token recruitment efforts, of course, but mostly they just seemed to enjoy having their church. Stepping forward, Evie knocked on the doors to the building. “Father Saifu?” Not quite his real name, but it was the best Japanese could do. She never had been able to pronounce his name very well. Still, it took only a few moments for the door to open.

“Ah, Evie.” A handsome young man said, smiling at her as he looked out. As usual, he was garbed in sturdy black clothing, with an embroidered representation of Earth done in silver thread. “I don’t suppose you’ve come to hear the Truth of the World and join us?”

“Not today, Father.” Evie answered with a smile as she stepped into the building. “I just wanted to thank you for the help you and your followers gave in completing the Library. We don’t have any bookstores in town, so a place for everybody to get something to read is really helpful. Father was delighted to have so many extra hands.”

“No, no, the pleasure was all ours.” The Priest said, chuckling. “After all, any fool can destroy something, but it takes talent and hard work to create. Besides, your town has been very good to us, so helping out as we can is really the least we can do.” He calmly went back to his lectern and shut a book that had been lying open. “While you’re here, at least let me make you some tea.”

“That would be wonderful.” Evie answered with a smile, taking a seat at a small table. Some churches had nothing but long rows of seating, but the Followers used the building for everything from sermons to potluck dinners, and the design reflected that. Enough room for perhaps a hundred of the Followers was taken by seats that rose up one side of the building in a manner that brought to mind a large lecture hall. Complete with desks, there was quite enough room for everyone who needed it. Further down, of course, were various tables and couches, a number of shelves that held books named things like ‘The Black Rider and You: Five Ways to Prevent Plague’ and ‘Freedom For All: A Practical Guide’. A pair of doors led deeper into the building, though Evie had never gone back there, since it was for members of the Followers only. Before long, Father Saifu returned with a tray of tea, and calmly passed some to her. Evie took a sip and smiled.

“This is delicious! What kind of blend is it?” she asked.

“Ah ah ah.” The Priest said, wagging a finger at her. “It’s my own special mix; I couldn’t possibly reveal all of its secrets, could I?” Evie just took another sip, feeling more revitalized with every swallow she took. “Invigorating, isn’t it?”

“Very.” The girl answered, chuckling slightly. No wonder he was so popular with his congregation; if they got to drink something like this all the time, she could see why they’d join. Just a bit sweet, with a refreshingly cool temperature, a pleasant color… she could drink it for days. Well, she wanted to, anyway. “Anyway, it’s always good to help each other out. Feel free to let us know if your Followers need anything, all right?” A little haze made its way across her vision.

“Miss Evie? Are you all right?” Father Saifu asked, looking concerned. The girl nodded.

“I-I’m fine.” She answered, rubbing her head slightly. “Thank you for asking, though. Just a little overexcited, I think. It’s finally Summer Break, and I’m looking forward to going to the ocean.” Father Saifu simply smiled. After a little while of chatting, Evie politely excused herself, and stepped outside of the Church, raising a hand towards the sun and looking at the sky.

“Finally.” She said. And her world ended.

[End of Prologue]

Chapter Two: The Calm Before The Storm

Evie quietly sat on the bed, kicking her legs restlessly. She’d pinched herself until she bled, but she couldn’t wake up. Her new partner’s house was a fairly nondescript one in the middle of the Jacks’ town, but it was serving well enough for the moment. The little guys had been kind to her so far, but they weren’t human. This ridiculously skimpy outfit, the odd weapons she’d never even touched before, monsters… none of it made any sense at all. But, well… wasn’t that why she was here?

“Ho tell me-hee, what do you want to know?” her snowman friend asked, sitting in front of the girl with a wide grin on his face.

“Where am I?” Evie asked.

“We-hee call it ‘Beyond Time’.” The spirit answered, tilting his head. “The polar forces, Law and Chaos, fo-horce the world to hee-incarnate itself very fr-heequently. It just happened again. So-ho, it’ll come back soon when they hee-cide what they want it to be-hee like. The Law-yers usually hee-cide it.” Evie rubbed her head slightly.

“You’re saying that my whole world is just… gone? Like that? But how am I here? Everyone I know can’t just be gone forever, can they?”

“Ho no.” Jack Frost answered, chuckling. “Hee-ple get to hee-incarnate, too. So their memor-hees will be different, but they’ll still hee people with the same ho-uls.” Evie rubbed the sides of her head, taking a moment to work through the spirit’s heavy accent.

“So, what you’re telling me…” she said slowly. “Is that people don’t disappear when they die, they just get reincarnated when the world is remade?” Jack Frost nodded happily. “I guess that’s something. But how am I not part of that?”

“Don’t kno-ho.” The spirit answered sympathetically. “But hey, it’ll work out some-ho-w. What’s the plan, Boss?”

“Boss?”

“I’m ho-ing with you now, so-ho of course you’re the Boss!” the spirit said. “Try using this!”

[Evie has received ‘Demon Bullet’ x4]

“What are these?” the girl asked, carefully examining the items. They were a bit bulky, but small enough to fit into her guns and be fired, and some inner sense told her they were empty. Or maybe it was just their weight that suggested that, since they certainly felt hollow.

“Hee-se are Demon Bullets.” Jack Frost explained. “We hee-mons can be contained inside of them, and ho you can shoot them from your guns to call us for battle.” Evie nodded slightly. The creatures around here had a good idea of what they were, then, and the little guy did seem to be an ally. “Hee-re I go!” the spirit vanished, and one of her bullets suddenly felt heavier as a light blue aura moved into it from where Jack Frost had been. A small image of the demon’s face appeared on its side, and with a shrug, Evie loaded it into her weapon. She could test it out later; the guns each had one setting for the second bullet loading area, it seemed, so two demon companions at once?

Wait, why did she even care about this? Sighing heavily, the girl slipped on her strange new body’s shoes and headed out the door, thinking carefully. The Slime she’d killed earlier had dropped a few coins of some sort that had moved themselves into a pouch at her belt (convenient, that), but it wasn’t enough to buy anything of use at the local store.

“Jack?” she asked, looking at her gun.

“Hee-re.” a disembodied voice said. “I can still hee-ar you even though I’m like this, so talk as much as you want!”

“Right.” Evie said. “If I want to go west, I’m going to need to get stronger, right?”

“That’s for sure.” Jack agreed. “Strong hee-mons live in the west, so you’ll need more allies if you want to survive.” Evie nodded in agreement. She was still scared, but… sleep had helped a little. Well, then, it was time to go hunting. The Slimes scared her, but she knew she could beat them if she worked hard. She quickly made her way out of the igloo that served as the entrance to the underground town and looked around, then trotted forward. It didn’t take long for enemies to show. Three of them, in fact. All nasty-looking Slimes.



Without hesitating, Evie whipped out one of her guns, switched the setting, and fired. Jack Frost appeared beside her as she drew her other weapon and set the first back to bullets, charging it with ‘Fire Bullet 1’ before shooting at the first target. Yelping, it vanished in a burst of flame as Jack Frost ran up and smacked the second Slime. Both darted forward and smacked Evie before pulling back. Gritting her teeth, and in more pain than she’d been since arriving, the girl took aim and unleashed another burst of fiery bullets from her pistols at the third Slime as Jack ran up and pounded the second again. Both of the blobs vanished as Evie fell to one knee. Maybe she wasn’t as agile as she thought, despite this new body. Jack vanished as well.

[Evie has reached Level 3]

[Evie has acquired the Command Skill Analyze: Scan an enemy and determine its traits]

[Evie has acquired the Command Skill Run: Attempt to escape from battle]

[Evie has acquired the Command Skill Talk: Attempt to convince an enemy to join the party.]

[Jack Frost has reached Level 3]

“Ow, ow, ow…” the girl muttered, holding her stomach where she’d been hit.

“You’re hurt.” Jack’s voice said from the air next to her. “Hee-mon bodies like ours don’t really get limbs injured permanently and stuff, but if you lose too much ener-hee, you can disappear until you naturally regain it again. Use a spell like Dia to hee-gain some ener-hee.” Evie grit her teeth and searched through her mind until she found the spell, and with a quickly muttered comment, she sent the energy through her body. Immediately, she felt like she’d never even been struck, though she was slightly more tired in a different way. “You’ve used up some Magnetite.”

“Some what?” Evie asked, straightening her body as she looked around for more slimes to kill. It was painful when they hit her, but… shooting the blobs full of flaming bullets was kind of fun, in a weird way. Evie realized a moment later that it was great stress relief.

“It’s the power that gives us hee-mons form.” Jack Frost explained. “We-hee’re composed of it, and ho is this world. As long as I’m your hee-mon, though, I have to get ener-hee processed through you, so it’s more limited for hee than usual.” Evie blinked.

“How… how exactly is it processed through me?” she asked.

“Oh, don’t wor-hee.” Jack answered cheerfully. “You won’t even ho-tice it, really. You take it in from the air surrounding you, and the Demon Bullet converts it to power for me-hee. But since you have to power a hee-mon, too, you can’t regain it for yourself as quick-hee, so pay attention to how much you have.” Evie nodded slightly as another Slime erupted out of the ground. Kicking high into the air, she let the demon pass underneath her as she pumped it full of bullets.

“I’m not running out of bullets.” She observed.

“Weapons are like that around hee-re.” Jack explained cheerfully. “Shoot away! Just… not at me. I do-hon’t like fire. In fact, I really, really hate fire, just like the Slimes. They’re hee-ak to it, which is why your bullets are ho effective.” Which made sense, Evie observed. And the more she killed them, the stronger she felt. She began moving forward a moment later. It was time to test this body of hers and see what she could do. There was no point being silly about it.

She had no idea how to get home. The only thing she had to go on was Father Saifu’s directions… she wasn’t sure why he was here, either, but it was her only true point of reference in this land. Working calmly, the girl began moving through the area, gunning down Slimes as she came across them.

[Evie has reached Level 4.]

[Evie has acquired the skill Ice Bullet 1: Normal attacks hit as Ice for three attacks.]

[Jack Frost has reached Level 4.]

Eventually, however, she did have to return to the Igloo. Her energy… Magnetite, or MAG, was indeed getting low, and she couldn’t cast both Fire Bullet 1 and Dia forever, so with a sigh, she returned to Jack’s house and collapsed onto her bed. Sleeping would massively accelerate her recovery rate, Jack had explained, so if she was tired, finding a bed was a good choice. Having thus regained all of her energy, the girl slipped out of bed the next morning and headed to the market. Still nothing particularly useful, so with a sigh, she headed aboveground again and looked around. Time to start making her way west; her power had grown to the point where she could easily take down any Slimes that popped up, so it was time to find stronger enemies to overcome.

[End of Chapter 2]

Party:

[???] Evie – Level 4
Skills:
(CS: Attack) (CS: Talk) (CS: Analyze) (CS: Run) (1. Fire Bullet 1) (2. Ice Bullet 1) (3. Dia)
{Demon Bullet: 1/4}

[Fairy] Jack Frost – Level 4
Skills:
(CS: Attack) (1. Bufu)

Chapter Three: Head West

Evie sighed slightly as she lay curled up in an abandoned building. Slime attacks had been fairly periodic throughout the day, but she’d been fortunate enough to find a base of sorts that they seemed to avoid going in, allowing her to rest and recover her energy. She’d fought quite a few Slimes throughout the day, but even though she’d finally reached the point where she didn’t even need to charge her bullets with flames in order to eliminate the creatures, they still tended to attack in groups, and she did need to heal herself on occasion. Heavy fighting had worn her out.

[Evie has reached Level 5.]

[Evie has reached Level 6.]

[Jack Frost has reached Level 5.]

[Jack Frost has acquired the skill Ice Boost: Damage from Ice attacks up 25%.]

It took some time, but dawn finally arrived, and the girl set off again. She was still having a hard time getting used to certain aspects of her new body. Fortunately, this section of Beyond Time was quite warm, so she didn’t even need a blanket at night, but… why did the outfit have to be so disturbingly skimpy? Curses!



“Hee!” a spirit said, forming in the air in front of Evie. Without hesitation, the girl charged her bullets and fired at the monster, hissing as it simply floated there, completely unharmed.

“Boss!” Jack called from the air beside her. “That’s a Pyro Jack! Use your Analyze skill on new enemies; he can absorb fire, so your Fire Bullets won’t have any effect on him. But he’s weak to Ice.” Evie nodded slightly; if something was weak to fire, it seemed natural enough that something else might be resistant to it. The monster just laughed, and a burst of fire, an Agi spell, struck Evie. The girl whirled her weapon around once, charging her gun with Ice Bullet 1 before unloading on the new enemy. It screamed this time, and Evie fired again. Perhaps as a result of the massive Slime-killing she had done earlier, that turned out to be enough to get rid of the spirit. Evie sighed slightly as it vanished. Well, at least it hadn’t been another Slime.

Waiting for a moment to allow the coins dropped by the defeated monster to gather into her money pouch, Evie began walking forward again. Depletion of MAG seemed to be more of an issue than true fatigue… she’d only found her physical condition truly weakened by what Jack called an ‘Ailment’ when one of the Slimes had gotten in a good hit and Poisoned her. Not fun, that… but sleep had healed her from the problem, which said some interesting things about her body’s ability to recover. Still, this area was dangerous, relatively speaking, though not as much as it might have been had she not spent quite some time taking down Slimes. A rustling sound drew her attention a moment later.



“Hey, hey!” a small insect-like spirit said, buzzing up in front of Evie. The girl promptly leveled her weapon at the sprite. “Eep!” Evie just narrowed her eyes as she Analyzed the spirit. It was a Hua Po, Level 5, resisted fire… Not bad. “What, you want me to join you or something?” Evie nodded slightly. “Then… give me 200 macca!” the spirit demanded. Evie calmly passed over the money. “Mmm… I want some of your energy, too!” Evie sighed, but allowed the spirit to drain some of her power. “Okay! I’m Hua Po, it’s nice to meet you!”

“Likewise.” Evie answered as the demon vanished and filled a bullet.

[Hua Po (Lv. 5) has joined Evie’s party]

Evie nodded slightly as she slipped the bullet into her other gun. With two allies, it seemed she could finally have a fully active team, and this spirit seemed… well… less creepy than the Pyro Jack had been, and she just shot Slimes on sight now rather than trying to reason with them. They’d never said anything sensible anyway. After a moment, Evie started forward again, carefully keeping an eye on the area around her. This area still wasn’t safe, and it wasn’t long at all before a group of Pyro Jack’s floated up, snickering. Three of them, so… she probably couldn’t kill them before they got a chance to attack, and Jack Frost was weak to their flames. Just the Hua Po, then. Evie angled her weapons at the first Pyro Jack and let loose with a barrage of normal bullets as her new companion struck the second Pyro Jack. Not enough to down either of them, however, and the first just laughed as he launched an Agi spell. The flames erupted against the sprite… and merely singed her. The other two seemed to learn from their companion’s mistake, however, and both of their spells struck Evie hard. The girl gasped a bit, then opened fire on the Pyro Jack that had been hit by the Hua Po, and the fairy obligingly went after the enemy she had shot first; both vanished with a howl, and Evie fell to one knee as the remaining monster cuffed her upside the head with its lantern. Gritting her teeth, she got back to her feet and shot the spirit, allowing the Hua Po to finish it off. As always, she absorbed a bit of the enemies’ power, though she hadn’t quite reached the point of getting stronger again, and the girl sent two bursts of Dia through herself; she'd given up a good chunk of her normal power to the Hua Po earlier, and adding the damage from the Pyro Jacks... “That… could’ve gone worse.” she muttered.

The girl slowly advanced across the area, unleashing bullets through each of the enemies she came across. She was learning; it was a long way between rest points, apparently, so it wasn’t good to charge up her bullets every time she found an enemy; they came in very different numbers, after all. One enemy she could take down by summoning her two companions and having all three of them attack, and for two enemies, just her and Hua Po would suffice; a lot of the enemies in the area seemed to use fire spells, which Jack Frost was weak to, but Hua Po could take with barely a scratch. Evie had found that she herself didn’t seem to have any such traits.

[Evie has reached Level 7.]

[Jack Frost has reached Level 6.]

[Hua Po has reached Level 6.]

Finally, the girl found herself standing in front of another town. “We… we made it.” she said with a smile, striding through the gates. Maybe she could finally get some answers.

[End of Chapter 3]

Party:

[???] Evie – Level 7
Skills:
(CS: Attack) (CS: Talk) (CS: Analyze) (CS: Run) (1. Fire Bullet 1) (2. Ice Bullet 1) (3. Dia)
{Demon Bullet: 2/4}

[Fairy] Jack Frost – Level 6
Skills:
(CS: Attack) (1. Bufu) (2. Ice Boost)

[Jirae] Hua Po – Level 6
Skills:
(CS: Attack) (1. Agi) (2. Maragi)

Chapter Five: Raging

When Evie stepped outside, however, it didn’t take long to realize that something felt… weird. There was a heavy presence to the north of town, and taking a deep breath, she advanced to that area. A demon erupted out of the ground a moment later.



“What’sssss thisss? Another demonssss come to playsss?” the heads of the creature asked. One of them darted forward and struck Evie in the chest, sending her tumbling backwards. The girl released both of her demons a moment later, and frowned as the Analyze turned up blank. That had never happened before. “Kisssshisssshissssshi!” the monster laughed as a Garula slammed into Jack Frost.

“Fight back!” Evie called to her allies, charging her guns with Force Bullet 1 and unleashing a barrage towards the monster. The bullets simply bounced off of its hide, however, unable to so much as scratch it. The same happened with Jack Frost’s Bufu spell; it seemed resistant to both of them, and the multi-headed demon laughed as it lunched forward, igniting a Mabufula that sent a wave of ice across Evie and her companions. Jack Frost, of course, took very little damage from Ice… but the same was not true of Evie and Hua Po. The fairy simply crumpled to the ground and vanished back into her Demon Bullet as Evie realized that more than half her energy was already gone. Switching to fire, she managed to get her arms up and unleash a barrage towards the monster. It howled in pain, surprised, and Evie took the opportunity to recall Jack Frost and run back towards the village… or tried to, anyway, but another Mabufula caught her from behind, and she blacked out.


{Titan’s House}

“Aaaaah!” Evie shrieked, bolting upright, then clutching her head. She felt normal now, but… that had hurt!

“Oh, you’re up.” The Titan said, walking into the room with a massive bowl of stew. He set it on a small table next to the bed a moment later as Evie rubbed her eyes. “You bit off a little more than you could chew there.”



Evie just rubbed her eyes as she took a few bites of the stew. “What… what happened?” she mumbled. The Titan just sighed.

“You, silly girl, tried to fight Yamata-no-Orochi, which was a really stupid thing to do. Gutsy, but stupid.” The Titan explained. “Slaying Slimes and Pyro Jack’s is nowhere near enough to get you ready for something like that thing, not unless you want to spend years preparing.” Evie sighed and nodded. “You’re lucky I was here to rescue you before you got offed for good. Be more careful in the future if you sense something strong instead of rushing right at it.” Evie slowly nodded, then spooned the rest of her food into her mouth bit by bit.

“Thank you.” She muttered. The Titan just sighed and shook his head.

“Just remember that while there are many weak demons, there are quite a number of strong ones as well. If you don’t wish to get beaten like that again, you’ll have to grow stronger yourself. Make new allies, learn new skills, and be smart.” The Titan got up and left, and Evie soon got to her feet. This world really was bizarre; she felt like she hadn’t been hurt at all, despite a crushing defeat at the hands of that enormous snake monster. Freaky. But then, what about this world wasn’t weird?

“I wanna go home.” The girl muttered, stretching a bit just to be sure she was in good shape before she walked out into the warm morning air. Wait… morning? She’d been out cold all night, then. Sighing slightly, the girl began walking forward again, heading West this time and keeping well clear of where the Yamata-no-Orochi lay waiting. Maybe someday, she could come back and eliminate the beast, but for now… she kept Agni’s Necklace equipped as she ventured out of the town, and her weaker foes approached. A few Slimes still, Pyro Jack’s, and other Hua Po’s, calmly blown away by a barrage of bullets.

[Evie has reached Level 8.]

[Jack Frost has reached Level 7.]

[Hua Po has reached Level 7.]

At the very least, these enemies she could take care of without much problem, and enough of them would net her more power. But she needed stronger enemies, who could give her more power, if she was going to get tough enough. Before she had even realized she’d done it, Evie found that she now had a goal in this world… get strong enough to fight any enemy that showed itself, and crush them with any amount of force necessary.

Step by step, she made her way west, taking down other enemies that showed their faces to her. This seemed to be a fairly homogenous territory, without a huge variety of spirits except in that town… a town called Sunrise. Ironic, she supposed, but fitting in a way. And as she went, the grassy plains slowly began to shift to an urban wasteland; far ahead was a broken-down city. A new stop on her journey to find the truth…

[End of Chapter 5]

Party:

[???] Evie – Level 8
Skills:
(CS: Attack) (CS: Talk) (CS: Analyze) (CS: Run) (1. Fire Bullet 2) (2. Ice Bullet 1) (3. Force Bullet 1) (4. Dia)
{Weapon: Poison Gun} {Demon Bullet: 2/4} {Agni’s Necklace} {Vayu’s Necklace}

[Fairy] Jack Frost – Level 7
Skills:
(CS: Attack) (1. Bufu) (2. Ice Boost)

[Jirae] Hua Po – Level 7
Skills:
(CS: Attack) (1. Agi) (2. Maragi)