//------------------------------// // Relaxation // Story: Balance // by BioQuillFiction //------------------------------// I was taking a nap, cuddling Luna. I handed X to Button, and Discord to Dinky… I can only imagine her room might be nothing more than Candy by now… though there was someone else in bed with Luna and I… Toriel decided to… ‘stick around’ since Chara, Asriel, and Frisk all seemed to like me and got along with the others fine… Long story short, the wedding to make her an official member of the family is in a month… I only agreed because A, Frisk is an amazing kid. He doesn’t fight when sparring with the others, he blocks and dodges. No one has yet to land a hit on him. And B, I wanted to make sure Chara and Asriel were alright still. After everything I was told what happened to them… they went through hell. Toriel shifted. She was hugging me, her chest against my back… so fluffy… Damn it! I heard Luna groan as she started to wake up. “What time is it?” She asked sleepily. “Ten in the morning.” I replied. “Oh… Things have gotten a tad slow, haven’t they?” “How so?” “It's been awhile since Toriel decided to join our family, and about half a week since Discord appeared. I guess I just expected something else to happen already.” “Maybe I can look at the world records, see if any of them we can take a family visit to?” “That sounds nice.” I got up, got dressed, and went to pick up Discord and X. As I expected, there was large piles of Candy in Dinky’s room… I told her hide it well, and share with her siblings. I like Dinky. She’s fun, random, and cute. Glad to hear. I picked up X from Button. He liked duel wielding, and went into my office. Lots of files had been added since last night, and it will only grow if I don’t go through them. Only down side. I picked up a file. Scouter: David World: Afterworld Word has human inhabitants, though it seems spirits exist here as well. When they appeared, I was met with hostility until I summoned my Keyblade, and they seemed to have calmed down and were passive since. I found my body began to fade, but a quick, and overpriced, meal managed to restore my body from fading. That information was given by a boy, who was also a spirit, named Haku River. He seemed more friendly than the other spirits, and informed me he was trying to change the old says, so a few humans at a time could enter and walk among the spirits. His goal seems to be a mixing of humans and spirits living together. While many spirits were rude, I was allowed the services to the Bathhouse, as a small section was made for the rare event a human like myself wandered in and had to wait til sunrise to leave, as at night a river filles around the ‘town’ and a whole other world also seems to exist within this world. I talked to Haku River, and the owner of the bathhouse, Yubaba, who was the most rude, about a possible meeting and contract, but all she seemed to care about was running the bath house, and gold. Thankfully they accepted munny, as it is gold in a way, and many of the staff treated me better in the bathhouse. Once the sun was up I was able to leave. You know this place Discord? I wish. A bathhouse for spirits, I would have gotten so clean and socialized all the time there. Wonder how they’ll treat us? The ride there was rather short. I had Celestia with me and I landed us outside the, what I guessed, was the bathhouse. We were met by a boy in a white outfit with dark green or black hair. “Another from the outside world?” He asked. “Yeah, one of my scouters was here.” I replied. “Ah, you must be Zeke, David said you might come. Odd, you don’t smell like a human?” “You can tell that by smell?” “We spirits have many ways of telling what’s what, but smell is the most used.” “What do I smell like?” Celestia asked. The boy, who must be Haku River, took a sniff… then got down on his knees and bowed. “It’s an honor for a demigod to visit our humble bathhouse.” “There is no need for that… what’s your name?” He got up. “Haku River, though Haku works as well.” I was right. “Please tell me, as a demigod, what can you do?” “I move the sun on my world, and my sister moves the moon.” “Are you seeking relaxation in our bathhouse?” “We were wondering if that was okay actually. I wasn’t sure about me, but what about our human children?” I asked. Haku pondered for a time. “Yubaba might have an issue with it. Even though many improvements have been made since long ago, she still holds onto the old ways.” “How long ago did these changes take place, and why?” “About eighty years ago, a human girl and her family wandered up to this place. Her parents ate food that was offerings to the spirits, and they were turned into pigs. The girl was made into a worker, in order to repay the bathhouse and the spirits for what her parents did. After some time, many got to like her, and she changed so much about our perceptions of humans. She was the only one to break free of Yubaba’s contracts, and then, she freed me. She and her parents returned to the human world… though, she did visit once after that. She was an adult then.” “Sounds like you liked her.” Celestia teased. Haku kept a straight face, but his cheeks rated him out. “Well, anyway. You and your kin, including the humans, should be welcome here so long as you pay.” “Celestia, you get the others, I wanna talk to this, Yubaba.” I asked as Celestia nodded, and got on her glider and flew off. “So is she available?” “Please, follow me.” Yubaba was a rather… unique person, in both attitude and appearance. She sat at her desk as I sat in a chair in front of it. Jewels and objects of precious value were all over the place. “So,” She spoke. “A human who has become a spirit. Well, a weapon anyway. You and those two humans will be allowed to have the services of the bathhouse, so long as payment is upfront for each member, and please pay for any and all food consumed.” “Of course.” I pulled out my munny bag. I was carrying about 78k in munny… how it all fits in that, thank Twilight. “Will this cover it?” I tossed her the bag, and her eyes widened. “This will do more than enough. So, now that that is out of the way, I suppose Haku told you about the place, and my general distaste for humans?” “Yes, I was wondering why you have this distaste for them?” “Frankly, it’s the fact they don’t know how to leave well enough alone. When Chihiro came here, I expected her to be like any other human that had the misfortune to find themselves here. In the end, I was made a fool of, and a legend went on about this place. It was supposed to keep humans away from here, but we have been getting two or three humans here a year since fifteen years ago.” “Humans as a race have short lifespans. Not enough gets passed on, or the next generation wants to see the truth for themselves before taking the world of elders. Humanity can be… well stupid, largely, but we make it work for us.” “You’re a weapon, and akin to a spirit. Yet you still call yourself a human?” “Being human is all I know, and I won't trade that for anything.” Yubaba shrugged. “Well, if that’s how you feel. So, how did you humans get ahold of spirit weapons like those giant keys?” “Keyblades. They are made from either light or darkness. They choose their wielders, and contain great power.” “Enough that when that human earlier appeared, and summoned it, it completely cloaked his sent. You are dangerous, but you decide to help as many as you can, why?” “They call you a witch, what horrors have you seen?” Yubaba looked at me curiously. “I’ve seen my fair share, why?” “I’ve seen murder, death, violence, and evil since I was born. Until I got this power, I only could help it, even though I did very little, and I still was marked for death. Now that I have the Keyblades, I don’t want anyone to see the things I’ve seen. I will give the power to those who need it, to protect what they care about.” Yababa sighed. “Well, it’s noble, but a fool's goal.” “Then I will die a fool, dragging the evil with me.” “... you really are still just a human.” “And proud.” She smiled. “Well, I suppose that can’t be helped. I suppose you're wondering about a few things?” “A few. Why do the bodies of humans disappear without eating some food after sunset?” “When this place was made, powerful spirits wanted the spirits that came here to be safe from humans that hunted us back then. I suppose Haku was right in that regard though, these humans are innocent of the crimes of their ancestors. It would be like hating a new born baby cause it’s parents are criminals.” I’m not sure if she was referring to me or not when saying that? “If this is all, I guess I’ll go see if my family has arrived yet. It was nice speaking Yubaba.” “Please, come back whenever. Send those documents and I’ll sign and with conditions,” She held the munny pouch for me to see. “And bring lots of spending cash.” I chuckled. “Sure.” WIth all the munny I gave Yubaba, she had us in the largest bath tub they had. Large plates of food were constantly offered, and often refused. No one can eat a whole pig, especially one THAT big. While the adults were all nude in the giant tub, the kids had swimsuits on and were in the tub across from us. This bath water was really relaxing though, and this world had no Heartless. For once a relaxing day. While Toriel was… keeping hidden under the water, which was reasonable, she was new and at most we kissed so far, the others, save for fluttershy who was bathing the twins in a small wooden bathtub, were splashing each other like it was a day at the beach. When we finally got out of the bathtubs we went to explore the town some. There were games, mostly there were tea shops and food stalls. Spirits like to eat apparently. There was a game where the goal was to use some kinda paper net to catch fish before the water broke the net. Most of us didn’t get anything, but Diamond Tiara managed to catch three goldfish, well, spirit fish, so they were magic. A few other games were archery, to which I got everyone a prize. Thanks dad. Lastly we played a game of combat. Luna entered this. The goal was to use bamboo swords to defeat your opponent, and you win a rather packed box of gold. Luna effortlessly defeated all other challengers, and claimed the gold for herself. The bathhouse had rooms for overnight guests, which we were, and we went to bed. I was around five or so when Toriel woke me up. “Zeke.” She whispered to me, cuddling me like she did this morning. “Yeah?” I ask, sleepy. “I’m sorry if I‘m not as… forward as the others.” “Don’t be. You're new to this, group marriage thing, plus your dead children just came back to life. I’m just surprised you decided to join.” “Yes, Chara, and Asriel I loved them dearly, and it still feels like a dream that they are back. You performed a miracle for me.” “I just had X take over, he’s the one that did all the work.” “True, but you could have denied him to take control of you, or killed Flowey when you first encountered him. You saved our whole race, and are helping us co-exist with the humans on our world, and… you’re just doing so much.” “Everyone who’s helping knows what it feels like to lose their home because they have. I don’t want that to change, I wanna get all the lost worlds back, and make sure every world among the stars can co-exist. It’s an impossible dream, but so far everything that’s happened to me has been impossible, so I’m not letting it go.” “You really are a godsend.” She kissed my cheek. Hah! Truer than you’d think Tori.